Chapter 144
Chapter 144
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Sea Dragon's Inner Core
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Spirit beasts are animals that have either aged greatly or been special from birth.
Most such spirit beasts prove to be of great help to martial artists.
Sea dragon.
A divine beast that appears only in legends.
The dragon pearl is the sea dragon's inner core.
Not all spirit beasts possess an inner core, but it would be absurd to think a divine beast like a dragon lacked one.
Even though its power had been greatly depleted over centuries of sustaining Ananna-i's lingering thoughts and the underwater tomb, the dragon pearl held value beyond compare to any other spirit beast's inner core.
The dragon's last appearance had been during the Divine Demon Great War a thousand years ago, making this sea dragon's inner core truly the last one remaining in the world.
Pffft!
Once Wi Seong-cheon obtained the dragon pearl, the tomb no longer had reason to exist.
Scales scattered amid surging waves, pushing Wi Seong-cheon's body outward.
Carried by the fierce currents, Wi Seong-cheon caught a clear glimpse of the tomb.
It was a massive lump composed entirely of scales.
He recalled the faint remnants of Ananna-i's memories.
Ananna-i had crossed the Central Plains to reach a small island, intending to die there but ultimately failing.
Those who craved the extermination of demons had sought her out.
The divine maiden who appeared with the sea dragon urged Ananna-i to right the world's chaos, and so Ananna-i postponed her death.
Through the divine maiden, people like Ananna-i gathered.
And then.
‘What came next?'
The memories were incomplete.
What had been passed on was the bare minimum to aid Wi Seong-cheon's understanding.
I cannot provide answers. Seeking them is the successor's duty.
Thus, Ananna-i had not revealed everything to Wi Seong-cheon.
As the scales fully scattered and turned to powder, Wi Seong-cheon ascended.
Ananna-i's wooden neck and the sea dragon's skull vanished completely.
Though they scattered and faded, they did not truly dissipate.
As the tomb fully collapsed, its power became a massive current guiding toward Wi Seong-cheon.
To be precise, toward the dragon pearl absorbed into his body.
Wi Seong-cheon clearly sensed how this unprecedented power acted upon him.
His muscles, bones, and meridians were transforming.
The bubbling of boiling water was noisy, but Wi Seong-cheon heard the changes in his body more clearly and distinctly.
'Bone shedding and tendon renewal...?'
He had never experienced it before, so he couldn't be certain, but this was surely bone shedding and tendon renewal.
Such were his thoughts.
The deep sea's pressure no longer crushed him with pain.
Instead, Wi Seong-cheon felt freedom even amid that pressure.
'Dragon pearl.'
His internal energy had undoubtedly surged.
Even that alone made the dragon pearl a heavenly fortune of the ages.
It was incomparable to the summoning pill or the Dawn Heaven Divine Pill he had taken before.
His acupoints had managed to store the vast energy of those spirit medicines in his dantian without issue, but the dragon pearl defied such containment.
From the start, the dragon pearl differed from ordinary spirit medicines. It was an unrefined inner core, not merely a mass of energy.
Though the dragon pearl had lost its form, Wi Seong-cheon clearly felt the alien power spreading throughout his entire body.
"...Pha!"
Wi Seong-cheon broke the surface, gasping for air.
He slicked back his soaked hair and scanned his surroundings.
It was night.
No ships in sight.
Wi Seong-cheon clicked his tongue and stood atop the sea.
It felt a bit awkward, but he'd get used to it.
Atop the undulating waves, Wi Seong-cheon evaporated the moisture from his body.
The dampness vanished, but a sticky saltiness remained.
"...This way?"
Wi Seong-cheon squinted toward the dark waves beyond.
He had no firm certainty, but he couldn't very well stand on the sea forever.
Composing his breath, Wi Seong-cheon began running across the water.
* * *
Having veered off course several times along the way, he reached the shore at dawn.
He had discarded his salt-crusted tunic entirely and crossed the beach half-naked.
"...Ran all the way from the sea, did you?"
Before the main palace of the North Sea Ice Palace.
Ha Ji-eun stood there waiting for Wi Seong-cheon.
She had been informed by the other palace disciples that he was crossing the sea.
Wi Seong-cheon brushed off the clinging salt and asked,
"Where has the Palace Lord gone?"
"She suddenly left for a tour."
Ha Ji-eun replied with a listless expression.
Wi Seong-cheon blinked in disbelief.
"When?"
"Yesterday."
"...Just to make sure I'm not confused—when did I head out to sea?"
"Yesterday."
Wi Seong-cheon's eyebrow twitched.
In the end, the North Sea Ice Palace Lord had sent Wi Seong-cheon out to sea and immediately departed on her own tour.
Wi Seong-cheon shook his head with an incredulous chuckle.
'It wasn't coincidence, after all?'
It was Ha Myeong-il who had given him the boat and sent him seaward.
Just to be sure, Wi Seong-cheon eyed Ha Ji-eun up and down before saying,
"Miss Ha."
"...What?"
"Do you know anything about this whole affair's instigator?"
"What nonsense is that?"
Ha Ji-eun scowled in return.
Wi Seong-cheon nodded and dropped the subject.
If Ha Ji-eun were involved, Ha Myeong-il wouldn't have left without her.
This matter pertained only to Ha Myeong-il, beyond the North Sea Ice Palace.
'Doesn't want to explain... or can't?'
Just like Ananna-i withholding everything.
"So, young hero, how long do you plan to stay half-naked?"
"Pardon?"
"Your clothes."
"I threw them out since they were soaked."
Wi Seong-cheon replied sheepishly.
Ha Ji-eun gave him a sour look and eyed his bare torso.
"...You seem different somehow."
She muttered softly, tilting her head.
A body that had undergone bone shedding and tendon renewal wouldn't show drastic visible changes.
It was impossible to discern for certain, but Ha Ji-eun sensed something alien about Wi Seong-cheon compared to before.
She might not know it, but Wi Seong-cheon was well aware of the profound transformation in his body.
As his skin sloughed off and new flesh grew, the minor scars accumulated since childhood had vanished cleanly.
"Must be a bit swollen from all the water."
"But young hero, where's the boat?"
"...The boat?"
"You didn't lose it, did you?"
Ha Ji-eun's gaze sharpened.
Wi Seong-cheon hesitated without answering, forcing an awkward smile.
"That boat belongs to the North Sea Ice Palace."
"My deepest apologies."
"You got money?"
"I have some, but I'll repay in labor if needed."
Ha Ji-eun's face twisted at that.
She stepped back a few paces, glaring at him with undisguised displeasure.
"I'm not interested in your body at all."
"...You sure jump to strange conclusions, Miss Ha. I meant repaying through service to the North Sea Ice Palace. I'd add money if it's not enough."
"By catching fish?"
"If that's what's needed, I'll catch them diligently. Who knows—the Palace Lord might return while I'm working."
That was one reason.
Wi Seong-cheon wanted to meet Ha Myeong-il again and question her about what happened at sea.
But it wasn't the only reason he wished to stay at the North Sea Ice Palace.
Wi Seong-cheon slowly turned to gaze at the sea.
He had seen it, felt it, come to know it a little.
Eyes open within its depths, he realized the sea was no longer purely terrifying.
He knew it now, yet the sea remained vast and majestic.
'A bit more.'
The semester at the Heavenly Academy hadn't started yet; time remained.
Wi Seong-cheon wanted to stay at the North Sea Ice Palace until then, experiencing the sea further.
Thus, a fortnight passed.
As a guest of the North Sea Ice Palace, Wi Seong-cheon went to sea each morning with the palace disciples.
He cast nets, hauled them in, and even dove deep with a harpoon.
He witnessed towering waves and countless fish drifting in the depths.
The palace disciples kept their distance from Wi Seong-cheon.
To them, who valued blood ties above all, he was ultimately an outsider.
Wi Seong-cheon found such treatment rather comfortable.
Rather than pandering, the disciples simply ignored him, allowing Wi Seong-cheon to contemplate the sea and himself amid that disregard.
Thanks to it, he knew for certain.
The dragon pearl had vastly boosted his internal energy and granted bone shedding and tendon renewal.
But such feats were possible even with peerless spirit medicines.
The true difference lay in the massive enhancement of his innate essence.
Amid grueling labor, Wi Seong-cheon deliberately restrained his internal energy usage.
Yet his stamina never flagged.
Even without drawing on internal energy, his strength overflowed, his body light and agile.
He cut back on meals intentionally, but hunger never came, nor did thirst.
His vision sharpened, piercing farther than before.
All his senses grew far more acute and keen.
He had honed his senses through training many times before, but this was fundamentally different.
His senses weren't merely refined through practice—they had been amplified at their core.
"Thanks to that, I've had a good stay."
Wi Seong-cheon smiled and bowed to Ha Ji-eun.
He had waited a fortnight, but Ha Myeong-il never returned.
He asked Ha Ji-eun about it several times, but she treated it as no big deal.
Apparently, the Palace Lord Ha Myeong-il vanishing like this was far from rare.
"When the Palace Lord returns, I'll tell her you sought her earnestly."
"Either way, won't you be heading back to the Black Forest soon?"
"I'll leave a letter then."
"That would be appreciated."
In that fortnight, his distance from Ha Ji-eun hadn't closed.
Like the other disciples, she kept him at arm's length.
Unlike them, though, Ha Ji-eun didn't ignore Wi Seong-cheon.
Though he'd only observed her for a mere fortnight, Wi Seong-cheon didn't sense in Ha Ji-eun the vicious temperament orthodox sects attributed to the unorthodox.
'No, not entirely.'
He had toiled at sea daily for catches, yet Ha Ji-eun ended up taking more money from him to buy a new boat.
The new one clearly looked pricier, but Wi Seong-cheon didn't quibble.
He had ample travel funds left anyway, and considering what he'd gained at the North Sea Ice Palace, even delivering gold ingots instead of silver wouldn't suffice.
"Then, see you in the Black Forest next time."
Of course, that was just in his mind.
Wi Seong-cheon not only lacked gold—he'd scarcely seen any.
He walked off with light steps.
Time was still plentiful; he could reach the Heavenly Academy without delay.
'Good thing I came.'
When he'd first followed Jeong Mi-ju to Guangxi, he'd worried about needless hassle and fatigue, but it had been every bit as troublesome and tiring as feared.
Yet affection had grown; parting already felt regrettable.
Even so, Wi Seong-cheon's steps were light.
He had faced and gained much in Guangxi, but separately, he wanted to return to the Heavenly Academy.
Ha Ji-eun stood stock-still, watching Wi Seong-cheon's receding back.
Just as Wi Seong-cheon had various impressions of her, Ha Ji-eun had formed many of him.
The orthodox are arrogant and narrow-minded.
The countless unorthodox warriors she'd met in the Black Forest always said as much about the orthodox.
"Not always, huh."
In the end, people are all the same.
Such were Ha Ji-eun's thoughts as she turned away.
Yes, ultimately the same. No matter the hair or eye color, appearance, or the world's banner they flew.
In the end, just people.
'Not all orthodox folk are like that young hero, though.'
Just as not all unorthodox are like me.
Ha Ji-eun chuckled softly and shook her head.