The Cave Lord
KABOOOM!
"Hey, you can't just attack those things head-on like that!"
"R-Really?"
Jeong Cheon-o looked sheepish under Han Yuhyeon's angry shout. Coming from an outer disciple to an inner disciple—and a senior of higher realm at that—the tone was wildly disrespectful. But with Yuhyeon having just blocked the Bloodburst Worm's detonation with a qi barrier, Jeong had nothing to say for himself.
Bloodburst Worms were Rank 8 demonic beasts. Their rank was low, but when struck they inflated and detonated with terrifying force, so the only safe way to kill them was from their blind spot: the back of the neck. Hit them from the front or the side and they always exploded.
These guys might swagger around as inner disciples in the Baekun Sect, but in the world of Yeonhwa Seonrok they were newbies among newbies. One little mutation in a beast cave and they completely lost their heads. Drawing on his game knowledge, Han Yuhyeon started feeding them every counter and pattern for the mutated beasts.
At first the inner disciples treated his advice with half-belief at best. Once the strategies started landing one after another, they could only stare in open amazement.
"These strategies are all in that book of yours?"
"Of course."
"Just what kind of book is it…?"
Ye Hyeon-gwan clicked his tongue. The moment they returned to the Baekun Sect he looked ready to tear through the scripture pavilion searching for it. He would never find it, of course. The whole thing was a lie Yuhyeon had spun on the spot.
A book that meticulously recorded the ecology and attack patterns of mutated demonic beasts? No such kindly text existed in this world. The cultivation world was full of people who specialized in kicking away the ladder. The truly vicious ones even left behind false pill formulas and cultivation methods so their juniors would suffer qi deviation. Resources for advancing were limited, after all.
"Clearing a mutated beast cave this smoothly is a first for me."
"No kidding. Once mutation hits, losing one or two people is basically normal."
The danger of a mutated beast cave came entirely from the unfamiliarity of the creatures. With Yuhyeon handing them every countermeasure, it was no different from a normal cave.
"Cave Lord up ahead."
They soon stood before a teleportation array glowing a deep, bloody red. Boss room. Step onto the array and they would be transferred straight to the Cave Lord's chamber.
"Everyone ready?"
"Let's pray for something weak."
The inner disciples and Han Yuhyeon stepped onto the array with tight faces. The moment every foot was planted, the circular array flared brighter, and a sensation of being sucked away swallowed them.
They closed their eyes and opened them somewhere else. Darkness hung thick, just like the room where the Mukjaeng had been—but this was a different kind of dark. That had been darkness woven from demonic qi. This was simply the natural dark of a place where light never reached.
"Everyone make it?"
Ye Hyeon-gwan's low voice echoed.
"From the way the sound is resonating, this is a sealed space."
"Seems so. Ceiling feels pretty high."
Cave Lord's room or not, the darkness itself felt cozy to Han Yuhyeon. No one could see his face.
That comfort lasted only a moment. Spiritual sense was one thing, but it was still better to light the place for the naked eye. Jeong Cheon-o conjured a fireball.
"Son of a—bitch!"
The curse came out syllable by syllable the instant the light flared. His voice had cut off because, for a second, he simply stopped breathing.
By pure rotten luck, the first thing the fireball illuminated was Han Yuhyeon's face looming right in front of him. An already spine-chilling face lit from below was more than enough to make a man black out.
"Ahem. Sorry. Caught me by surprise."
"It's fine. I understand."
Jeong apologized immediately. Reaching the Cave Lord's room without a single casualty was largely thanks to Yuhyeon, after all.
Yuhyeon himself was long past getting offended by that kind of reaction. Honestly, if he held a light under his own face in a mirror, he wasn't sure he could keep from swearing either.
"Grrrrraaah…"
A bestial rumble rolled out of the darkness. Jeong's scream must have woken it. Not that Jeong had trolled them; even a sleeping Cave Lord always woke the moment cultivators drew near.
Heavy shifting sounds followed as the Cave Lord heaved itself upright. The thing was massive—each footfall sent deep vibrations through the stone floor.
"KRAAAAAAAAH!"
The Cave Lord's roar of pure, refreshed waking lit the entire chamber. Torches set into the walls ignited all at once. Jeong had wasted a fireball for nothing.
"Holy shit."
One of the inner disciples tipped his head back and stared in blank horror.
Yuhyeon did the same. A giant boar with crimson fur. But the scale of "giant" was completely off. The thing had to be at least five meters tall.
"…It's a Jesu."
Ye Hyeon-gwan muttered the name in a daze. Shadows fell across every inner disciple's face.
"We should have realized from the wounds on the corpses in Cheonbang-jin."
"The fact that a mutation happened at all already meant Rank 5 or higher."
Yuhyeon understood exactly why they were terrified. It wasn't ignorance of the Jesu. It was because they knew it.
A Jesu was a Rank 4 demonic beast. Killing one required at least a single late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator.
In the Baekun Sect, the only late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator was Elder Mun Il-pyeong at the tenth star. Late-stage Qi Condensation was elder material in a place like theirs.
These disciples weren't even true disciples, let alone elders. Of course the odds looked hopeless.
"All right, pull yourselves together. Even if a tiger drags you into its den, you live if you keep your head."
The only person who had already recovered his composure was Han Yuhyeon—the lowest realm among them. The inner disciples gaped at him.
"Do you not know what a Jesu is? Rank 4. To us it's a monster."
Jeong Cheon-o said it, and Yuhyeon understood. One late-stage Qi Condensation cultivator was worth ten mid-stage fighters. Right now they had four mid-stage and one early-stage. Objectively, they were outmatched.
"We can survive. If you follow my lead."
"You're still telling us to listen to you here?"
"Got a better idea?"
Yuhyeon's voice turned cold. They didn't have time to argue.
"Scatter to all four directions—don't let your paths overlap!"
He shouted while already dodging. The inner disciples moved on pure reflex. The Jesu was already charging.
THUD. THUD. THUD!
Every step made the cave boom. Yuhyeon swept his gaze around at high speed.
With a body that huge, the chamber was naturally vast and grand. The high ceiling in particular was hung with enormous stalactites. The scale of nature in a cultivation world really was ridiculous.
"Jesu can't use ranged attacks, so whoever becomes the target runs while the rest hit it!"
"We already know that method! I thought you had something special!"
Jeong yelled. The Jesu was a famous beast; of course they knew the standard strategy.
"It's still the best we've got!"
At Yuhyeon's shout the inner disciples moved as one. The trust he had built by nailing every previous strategy was carrying them now.
This time, though, even Yuhyeon had nothing special. The Jesu only had one real strategy: one person draws aggro while the others bombard it with arts. Classic tank-and-spank.
Yuhyeon himself didn't throw a single technique. All he knew were body-tempering methods, his realm was low, and his spiritual roots were trash. Anything he fired would bounce off the Jesu's hide. Even a mid-stage Qi Condensation cultivator going all-out could only scratch that skin; the defense was absurd.
"Is this working?"
"I don't know!"
The inner disciples held the Jesu for a surprisingly long time, proving they at least had some experience. But their attacks were too weak to pierce the hide; they were only buying time.
"Hey… where's Junior Brother Han?"
Jeong Cheon-o suddenly asked. The others spread their spiritual senses and nearly choked. The only cultivators they could feel were the four of them still running for their lives.
"Did he just use us as bait and run?"
A beast cave had only two exits: the entrance they came through, and the exit the Cave Lord guarded. Normally the Cave Lord blocked the way out, but once combat started it had to leave the exit open. Escape was possible.
"We've been had!"
"That ugly little bastard!"
Rage flared through the group. Thinking about it, though, trusting another cultivator was the height of stupidity. However much trust Yuhyeon had built, they should have stayed suspicious.
"Complete defeat on our part."
Ye Hyeon-gwan gave a dry little laugh. A truly cultivator-like escape.
"From here on, every man for himself!"
Jeong shouted. That was the only option left—pray you weren't the target and bolt for the exit.
"KRAAAAH!"
But a Rank 4 beast was as sharp as its rank suggested. The moment their coordination started cracking and each of them began looking for a personal escape, the Jesu read it instantly and planted itself right in front of the exit, on full guard.
"We're screwed."
The four inner disciples could only stare blankly at the Jesu blocking the way out. Thick drool spilled from its torn-open mouth, looking for all the world like it was laughing at them.
"What do we do?"
One of them asked. No one had an answer. Ye Hyeon-gwan finally spoke in a calm voice.
"We die."
"Yeah. That was it."
Resignation settled over them. They had no way to drive the Jesu off or kill it. Dragging out the pain was pointless; better to throw everything they had into one last charge.
"Use every talisman, spirit stone, and pill you've got. No point saving them for the grave."
Ye Hyeon-gwan said. Grim faces began full-doping. Even then, they still wouldn't match the Jesu.
"Let's go."
With solemn expressions the inner disciples launched themselves forward, each unleashing their strongest techniques.
The Jesu sensed this was their final thrashing. It raised its forelegs, ready to swat the attacks aside.
RUMBLE.
Something shook the cave. The vibration wasn't coming from the Jesu. The source was the impossibly high ceiling, still hidden in darkness.
"What?"
Ye Hyeon-gwan glanced upward—and his eyes went wide.
Stalactites of monstrous size and number were plummeting straight toward the Jesu. The beast had been focused on the flashy arts in front of it; by the time it noticed the falling stone, it was already too late.
CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-BOOM!
Razor-sharp stones easily three meters long rained down from the high ceiling in a relentless barrage. Even a body as huge as the Jesu's couldn't endure it.
"KUUUAAAAH!"
A wretched scream tore out as the Jesu's knees buckled. The final stalactite struck at the exact same moment Han Yuhyeon—completely absent from their spiritual senses until now—suddenly appeared right in front of them. Materializing out of nowhere had only one simple explanation.
"An invisibility talisman?"
"Shoot into its mouth!"
"What?"
"I said shoot!"
Yuhyeon roared. Only then did the stunned inner disciples look at the Jesu, its mouth forced open in agony, the red interior fully exposed.
The Jesu was strong because of the iron hide wrapping its body. The inside of the mouth was a different story.
Understanding finally hit. The disciples poured every remaining technique straight down the Jesu's throat. Arts of every kind slammed into the open maw. The Jesu let out one last scream.
That was the moment the mutated beast cave fell.