The Serpent's Gaze
Crunch…
I clenched my teeth and pushed my senses even deeper, fearing I might be seeing things. The vision of my own eyes. The vision of the dragon race. And I channeled the comprehension that transcended my station to stare at the status plate. How long I stared, I couldn’t say. Chit-chit…
“I see it.”
This time it was unmistakable. The flow of spiritual power linked to the status plate sent out waves like consciousness, leading somewhere. The destination, judging by the aura felt, was unmistakably Seo Hyoel. “Damn it.”
I observed for quite some time before I understood the principle of this tracking plate. Dragon race cultivators train public methods, and the flow of those public methods records itself within their bodies. Thus, even a part of the body carrying a recorded public method continues to feel its influence, no matter where it ends up. They use this principle to constantly monitor a status plate even when it’s far away. “Damn it.”
I gritted my teeth and examined the plate further. Thankfully, from the qi flow, it seemed they were only monitoring my location. But I couldn’t relax. “Especially inside the Sea Dragon Palace.”
Inside the Sea Dragon Palace, rooms arranged much like the human quarters. Not something Seo Hyoel himself built, but built through the Sea Dragon elders, I still couldn’t believe it. “Very likely, the room I entered was also rigged. The chance of being monitored in real time is extremely high.”
Holding the status plate, I lay on the bed pretending to rest comfortably. I forced my expression into a normal smile and lay down so no one would suspect anything. “First priority is finding my disciple.”
I let my expression remain calm and organized my thoughts. Even rushing toward Seo Hyoel and deciding to fight to the death was impossible right now unless I burned every last bit of my pure origins qi. “As fast as possible I need to find my disciple and reach a certain level of strength so I can live safely alongside Seo Hyoel.”
I closed my eyes and quietly activated the Strange Star-Mind Scroll’s incantation. I extended my consciousness like a silk thread and surveyed the surroundings without anyone noticing. And after investigating every corner of the room with my consciousness thread, I found faint qi veins everywhere. These qi veins recorded changes happening inside the room and transported them somewhere. “As expected, they’re monitoring me.”
In this state, I couldn’t retrieve my disciple or anything. My trained public methods would also be observed under Seo Hyoel or the Sea Dragon elders’ eyes… “Then I have to act from now on.”
To escape this situation, I would have to burn at least some of my pure origins qi. Chi-iii… Pure life force flowed through the consciousness thread of the Strange Star-Mind Scroll and spread throughout the room. Because I had applied the Stealth and Illusion Technique to each thread, nothing could be detected. The Strange Star-Mind Scroll filled with life force stuck to the qi veins inside my room and began carving circuits according to my will. “I’ll devour them instead.”
Chi-iii… The circuits carved themselves into every qi vein and came under my control. And those circuits immediately recorded the room’s conditions differently and sent the information out. Whoever received the information through spiritual power would see me calmly falling asleep in the room. Even after carving circuits and gaining freedom of action, I searched the room again with the Strange Star-Mind Scroll, only then feeling truly at ease and getting up from the bed. “Honestly, I’d love to carve Goe-gun’s circuits into this tracking plate right now…”
This tracking plate made of Seo Hyoel’s scales was very likely directly connected to Seo Hyoel himself. The materials here had nothing to do with dragons, so that was fine, but touching the scales was still too dangerous. “Thankfully, the scales only carry location tracking; they can’t monitor real-time activities.”
I placed the status plate in an appropriate spot inside the room, sat down, and began absorbing qi. “I burned some life force, but with this I’ve gained freedom inside the Sea Dragon Palace. No need to worry. Time to start training.”
Tsu-tsu-tsu! I opened my mouth and pulled out the Colorless Glass Swords stored inside my body. Churak! My assigned room in the Sea Dragon Palace was quite spacious, so floating three thousand glass swords inside was no problem. I used an incantation to levitate the glass swords. Focusing my consciousness, I opened my mouth. “Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram.” Paa-aaat! At the same time, the glass swords emitted light and began releasing spirit beasts. In an instant the room filled with hazy spirit beasts. Not only that, the spirit beasts overlapped each other and began to shine inside the room. Because there was no space, they had to stack to appear. But from my perspective, that was actually convenient. Up until now I had only stored my disciple inside the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram. In that state, having the spirit beasts divided into such fine details was convenient. But to retrieve the disciple stored in the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram… “Combine.” Tsu-tsu-tsu-tsu! The spirit beasts turned into countless beams of light and overlapped. Countless spirit beasts gathered in front of me, forming a single human figure. The face of that figure kept changing. Every connection I had ever had—good and bad, loved and hated, trusted and respected… The faces of those countless connections swirled inside the human figure. And at some point, when all the spirit beasts merged, the human figure finally took its proper form. It was me. Ssu-ssu… A guy wearing a pure white robe. The spirit beast identical in form to me opened his eyes. I faced my own spirit beast with my eyes. The vision split. The spirit beast’s vision and my own vision. Because the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram was made from combining Samryeong-gong and Gunma Yonggang-gwon, creating another clone like in Samryeong-gong was possible. “Me” extended a hand toward “me.” The two “me”s extended hands toward each other. After a moment, the spirit beast “me”’s vision was sucked back inside “me”’s vision. When I regained my senses, the spirit beast had been absorbed inside my body. No, more precisely, it was in a “overlapped” state. Uuuuung! “Indeed…”
I felt the power I had placed inside the spirit beast while it was overlapped with my own. It was an immense power. By carefully transferring that power from the spirit beast into my own body over time, I would reach the Nascent Soul realm within ten years. Ssu-suuu… I closed my eyes and spent the night retrieving my disciple through the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram. ***
The next day came. I was summoned by Seo Hyoel. Inside Seo Hyoel’s room where he oversaw the Sea Dragon race, strange flows of spiritual power were circulating. “What is this flow of qi?” Watching the qi flow made my head feel refreshingly clear. It seemed like some kind of illusion meant to awaken the mind. While I was absorbing qi for a moment, Seo Hyoel asked me with a smiling face. “Was the night in the Sea Dragon Palace peaceful?” “Ah, thanks to your concern, Seo Hyoel, I had a peaceful night.” “That’s good. I’ll keep watching over you from now on too.” However, unlike the words he spoke, his mind was filled with suspicion that had grown since yesterday, making him quite sensitive. His eyes smiled, but upon closer look I could sense him observing every corner of the room. “By the way, they say the Blood-Soul Fusion Trial will be held in six months. Most of the participating dragons are Nascent Soul dragons, but it’s impossible for you to enter the Blood-Soul Fusion Trial right after the six months.” “Six months later…” I heard that the Blood-Soul Fusion Trial happened once every hundred years. Missing this opportunity meant waiting another hundred years. But I was cautious. “Does that Blood-Soul Fusion Trial really require me?” The Blood-Soul Fusion Trial would make entering the dragon society much easier. But the problem was whether Seo Hyoel would send me there for no reason at all. “Hundred percent chance he has an ulterior motive.” Adding to that, in a competition with Nascent Soul dragons, a human without any disciple within six months would accumulate enough to participate? It was extremely suspicious. But there was another problem. “A True Immortal will descend within a hundred years and sweep away the Golden Divine Thunder Sect.” My goal was to steal the Heavenly Thunder Banner from inside the Golden Divine Thunder Sect and place it inside the pocket dimension of Seo Hyoel or Hyeon-eum or some dragon with an ulterior motive. But that would also require entering the depths of the dragon society within a hundred years. I pondered for a while and answered. “Can you tell me how the Blood-Soul Fusion Trial works?” “It’s simple. It’s a survival competition among carefully selected dragons at the bottom level of Bongmyeong-ju. The last hundred survivors receive the opportunity to receive a disciple from the Blood-Soul Fusion Trial.” “Simple, isn’t it?” “It won’t be that simple. The bottom level of Bongmyeong-ju is quite harsh.” I thought for a moment and told Seo Hyoel. “I’ll participate.” “Oh…?” Suspicion appeared in Seo Hyoel’s eyes. But I decided to endure this much. “After all, Seo Hyoel will keep suspecting me even if I just breathe and eat. No, thinking about it, the things I’ve done so far would look suspicious to any third party.” Since I had already been marked as suspicious, I decided to show a suspicious side. “Haha, good. Anyway, you’re part of the Sea Dragon race, so it would be an honor for a talented human from the Sea Dragon race to receive a disciple from the Blood-Soul Fusion Trial.” He smiled kindly. “But is there any way to reach the Nascent Soul realm within six months?” “Hmm, do participants who aren’t Nascent Soul not allowed?” “Not exactly. It’s just that many participants who aren’t Nascent Soul die before the Blood-Soul Fusion Trial even ends because of the harshness of the bottom level.” “Then it’s fine. I have enough confidence in surviving.” “Hmm, all right then.” Seo Hyoel smiled faintly and took out a silk cloth, wrote a recommendation letter in dragon language on it, folded the cloth, and used a law technique to send it somewhere. “I’ve sent the recommendation letter to the Blood-Soul Fusion Trial organizer. You’ll be able to participate after that too.” “Thank you very much.” “No need to thank me. Is there anything that bothers you while staying here? Something else you need…?” I thought for a moment. “It wouldn’t be bad to ask directly how Oh Hye-seo is doing. Well, Seo Hyoel is the kind of person who takes care of people well…” I had low expectations, but there was a small chance he might answer easily, so I clung to that hope and asked. At that moment… “Wait a second.” I felt goosebumps rising on my back and quickly suppressed it by controlling my body. The strange qi flow that made the mind clear since I entered Seo Hyoel’s room. I had thought it was just an illusion meant to clear the mind. But since I was using the Strange Star-Mind Scroll to manage my consciousness and using my soul contemplation while reaching the state of answering heaven, I could immediately tell something was wrong the moment my consciousness felt off. “This bastard brainwashed me!” It was. The strange awakening effect I had felt since entering the room wasn’t an awakening effect at all. It wasn’t even an effect that cleared the mind. It was a brainwashing operation centered on Seo Hyoel, designed to make infinite affection toward him sprout inside me! I had been brainwashed the moment I entered the room. “His magic core and potion.” Every word Seo Hyoel spoke and every gentle expression he made was a type of brainwashing. Even though I felt goosebumps all over my body, I suppressed my physical reactions. “If I were someone else, I would have been brainwashed by Seo Hyoel without anyone noticing.” Having a Nascent Soul mind, comprehension that reaches the answering heaven, and mastering the Strange Star-Mind Scroll specialized in consciousness, I had only now realized I had been brainwashed. Even the Cheonin qi investigators wouldn’t notice they had been brainwashed unless they used their full concentration to suspect Seo Hyoel and investigate from the beginning. “Um, is there nothing else you need?” At that moment Seo Hyoel asked me again. I organized my emotions, smiled brightly, and nodded. “Your grace from Seo Hyoel is as vast as the sea. But there is one thing I’m curious about. Could you tell me what happened to Oh Hye-seo, my former colleague?” This brainwashing degree was “making affection toward Seo Hyoel and not suspecting him.” Asking my colleague about his safety wasn’t odd at all. And Seo Hyoel answered my question with a warm smile. “Of course she’s doing well. As I said before, she accepted my blood and was accepted into our Sea Dragon race. Now she’s receiving the blood-accepting ceremony inside the Sea Dragon Palace. Since it’s a ceremony that requires stability, even if you want to meet her, you’ll have to wait a little.” “Ah, I see. Thank you for the answer.” “He’s lying.” Won Rip had also accepted Seo Hyoel’s blood and transformed into a lotus. I had tortured Won Rip and made him reveal the law that transformed Seo Hyoel’s blood. From the confession of that guy, there was no process like “it requires stability.” “If I receive a disciple from the Blood-Soul Fusion Trial and become a disciple, will I also have to receive stability like Oh Hye-seo?” “Haha, of course. When you receive a disciple from the Blood-Soul Fusion Trial, I’ll personally take you and help you receive the blood-accepting ceremony. I’ll lend you the blood-accepting room where she received her ceremony this time too.” “Your kind words are deeply appreciated.” I could be certain after hearing Seo Hyoel’s words. “Seo Hyoel is lying right now, and I don’t know what state Oh Hye-seo is in right now.” “Well, is there anything else you’re curious about?” “…” If I told Seo Hyoel I was going to look for Oh Hye-seo here, he would use the stability excuse and refuse absolutely. “He’s probably still monitoring whether my brainwashing is working well.” It was better not to ask any more questions that could provoke the guy. “There’s nothing else I’m curious about. With your permission, I’ll go gather my disciple to participate in the Blood-Soul Fusion Trial.” “All right. Go on in. Oh, and do you have any mortal public methods you’re training separately?” “Yes, I do.” “Then there might be an invitation later. If you want to build an altar, go find the Sea Dragon elders. They’re people who are very interested in human altars, so they’ll install it kindly.” “Yes, thank you very much.” I greeted Seo Hyoel and left his room. Even after leaving his room, I had to return straight to my own room without sighing or relaxing my tension. I could see the flow of qi veins leading to Seo Hyoel’s room throughout the entire Sea Dragon Palace. The same flow as the one installed in my room. Seo Hyoel was monitoring everything inside the Sea Dragon Palace in real time. “Even he wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t me, who has gained the vision of will and qi and comprehension that transcends station at the same time.” Entering my room where I had already installed circuits, I could finally relax and sit down. “It’s impossible to even breathe inside this Sea Dragon Palace.” With Seo Hyoel’s eyes everywhere, I had to assume I was being monitored in real time. Yeah, that was how I should normally think. “Since this will become my home from now on, I can’t just take it.” Uuuuung! I had retrieved my disciple’s Core Formation Six Star from the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity Diagram overnight. In one night I had become Core Formation Six Star. I couldn’t surpass Seven Star because I had to perform a rite, so I could only reach it procedurally. “My law power is sufficient.” Uuuuung! I touched the monitoring qi veins Seo Hyoel had laid in my room and instead poured my law power into the qi veins. “He must have thought every single thing inside the Sea Dragon Palace would dance to his tune, you snake eel bastard.” Tsu-chu, tsu-tsu-tsu! I reversed the flow through Seo Hyoel’s qi veins and laid Goe-gun’s circuits. Beyond the qi veins, the crazy circuits were spreading and the circuits that had only been in my room began to gradually invade other places. Because I had laid circuits while blocking information with the Stealth and Illusion Technique, Seo Hyoel wouldn’t receive any information at all. “From today, the Sea Dragon Palace is in my grasp.” Seo Hyoel probably accepted me thinking he could control me. But that thought was wrong. I was poison. Poison accumulated and aged for over two thousand years, completely rotten. Since that poison had entered the dragon race’s heartland, I would now poison every corner. Tsu-tsu-tsu-tsu! “You don’t plan to show me what Oh Hye-seo is doing, and your will is full of brainwashing me…?” I thought while covering the entire Sea Dragon Palace with Goe-gun’s circuits. “I’ll retrieve the Sea Dragon Palace myself.” He was grateful for quietly laying such a law technique throughout his own palace. From now on I would use it well. ***
Six months passed quickly. I had retrieved the disciple after absorbing qi, and in one or two years I would be able to retrieve the Core Formation disciple too. And during that time I would use my strength to take control of the eyes of Seo Hyoel spread throughout the Sea Dragon Palace. After taking control of Seo Hyoel’s eyes and monitoring the Sea Dragon Palace, I still hadn’t found Oh Hye-seo. The fact that they said Oh Hye-seo was inside the Sea Dragon Palace itself meant the words were a lie. “Damn it.” I bit my teeth and opened my eyes inside the room. The time for the Blood-Soul Fusion Trial was approaching. I finished my preparations and left the Sea Dragon Palace. Leaving the Sea Dragon Palace at the bottom of the Yunshim-ho, I saw the formations surrounding the Sea Dragon Palace and the lake water of the Yunshim-ho spread beyond it. And around the inside and outside of the formations, Sea Dragon race members were strolling or swimming. But when I passed, the Sea Dragon race members whispered and showed slight signs of avoiding me. From what I overheard, it seemed they generally disliked the human like me. “That human bastard is participating in the Blood-Soul Fusion Trial this time?” “Apparently Seo Hyoel wrote a recommendation letter for the Blood-Soul Fusion Trial.” “Why a guy like that…” “No matter how high his consciousness, this is too big a privilege…” I calmly let their words flow past and waited at the edge of the formation. After a while Seo Hyoel swam down to the lake as his main body. “Did you wait long?” “No.” “First, ride on my neck… Listen to me. All the participants in this Blood-Soul Fusion Trial will fly with me!” Following Seo Hyoel’s words, young Nascent Soul or Core Formation Sea Dragon race members flew after him. I clung to Seo Hyoel’s neck and flew over the lake with him toward Bongmyeong-ju. While I was clinging to him, Seo Hyoel began comforting me with a warm voice. “Recently there’s been a lot of gossip about you among our Sea Dragon race. It seems some people are dissatisfied with giving you so many privileges even though you’re a human, not a dragon.” “…I heard that too.” “First, I’ll apologize on behalf of the Sea Dragon race. I am the one who accepted you into the Sea Dragon race, and I’m sorry I couldn’t take good care of you. And don’t mind what they say. I have become a major figure in the Jinryong-maeng this time, and I was a trusted king of the Sea Dragon race before the war. Since this king brought you because I saw your talent, you can walk your own path.” “…Thank you for your kind words.” If Changhoza had said these words, he would have been moved and perhaps even built a altar. But the truth was that Seo Hyoel’s mind was filled with pitch-black malice. “It feels fresh compared to when I was with Hyang-hwa.” She deliberately spoke harsh words to make me forget her and gave me love in her heart, while Seo Hyoel spoke kind and trustworthy words on the outside and inside was suspecting me and planning how to use me. It was extremely extreme, but too extreme to feel fresh. “Thinking of Seo Ran’s case, behind these whispering dragon race guys there is probably this guy.” Even though I had taken control of the eyes of Seo Hyoel inside the Sea Dragon Palace, I hadn’t relaxed even for a moment since the day I was with him. My actions were somewhat freer, but Seo Hyoel was a man who knew far too well how to restrain human behavior without using law techniques or illusions. Even without being brainwashed or monitored, thanks to the meaningful words he spoke, I couldn’t move a muscle inside the Sea Dragon Palace. “A guy who can’t let you move your psychology at all.” The longer I stayed with Seo Hyoel, the more I felt my throat tightening with frustration. There were times when the whole world was blocked and the only path was the one Seo Hyoel offered. But the path Seo Hyoel offered was always a trap. At two thousand years old like me, I had this much breathing room. “Then… where exactly is Oh Hye-seo?” I entered the depths of Bongmyeong-ju while worrying about Oh Hye-seo who should have been with me when I came with Seo Hyoel. Where exactly had Seo Hyoel brainwashed and captured her? Feeling that my goals for this life weren’t easy, I followed Seo Hyoel to the bottom of Bongmyeong-ju. The Blood-Soul Fusion Trial venue was reached. The Blood-Soul Fusion Trial was about to begin.---