Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Hatching (3)
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Yi Agum calmed her startled heart.
She observed Seoran's new creation, the Violet-Eyed Owls.
Excluding the part where their heads rotated half a turn, they were just ordinarily cute owls.
A sigh of admiration escaped her naturally.
"Sis, you made these so well."
"Really?"
"Yeah, they look just like real owls, so they're cute."
Seoran asked.
"Do you think the kids will like them? Like, will it make them want to learn puppet arts and stuff? What do you think, Agum?"
"I'm not sure about puppet arts, but yeah, I think the kids will like them. If only we could do something about the head rotating..."
"You just said they were cute."
"A kitten stops being cute once its head starts rotating. Anyway, isn't the number a bit much? How many did you make?"
Seoran thought for a moment before answering.
"Roughly three hundred?"
Yi Agum asked in surprise.
"Three hundred? How many do you make in a day?"
"About two hundred today? Since I'm making the same shape over and over, the speed keeps getting faster."
"You don't sleep?"
Seoran said.
"Why would an Origin Spirit Cultivator sleep?"
"You don't?"
"Nope, I don't?"
Yi Agum reflected on her travels with Seoran.
Come to think of it, she'd never seen Seoran sleeping.
She was naturally diligent, so Yi Agum had assumed she just went to bed later and woke up earlier than herself.
She hadn't imagined she didn't sleep at all.
Yi Agum asked.
"So what did you do at night while we were traveling together?"
"I cultivated or wrote books."
"You're always so diligent, Sis."
Yi Agum's eyes softened even more.
She was occasionally odd, but still the same as she was in childhood.
Yi Agum's respect for her sister grew deeper.
At that moment, Damcheong appeared, having heard their conversation.
"Oh, Agum's here. Did you bring medicine?"
"Hello, Dragon Lady. I came to visit today."
The task of feeding Seoran her medicine had changed hands a while ago.
Having a talented pill refiner like Yi Agum deliver soup medicine was clearly a waste.
Now, her animal friends handled the deliveries instead.
After greeting her, Yi Agum noticed something.
"Huh, Dragon Lady. What's this, you're all decorated?"
Damcheong smiled brightly and said.
"Does it look good?"
"Yes, it really suits you."
Only then did Seoran notice.
Something was tied to Damcheong's deer antlers.
It was a hair ribbon commonly used by Black Bamboo Sect girls.
The indigo ribbon matched Damcheong's dragon eyes perfectly.
Yi Agum said.
"Would you like me to tie the knot for you? I'm good at that sort of thing. I used to do it for my friends all the time when we were kids."
"Oh, give it a try."
Damcheong thrust her antler forward.
Yi Agum first untied the ribbon.
Then, with familiar hand movements, she tied a knot.
In an instant, a complex chrysanthemum knot was complete.
Seoran was startled.
"Wow, what!"
Yi Agum said confidently.
"How's that, Dragon Lady? Much prettier, right?"
"It really is! Do you know any other shapes!?"
Yi Agum counted on her fingers as she spoke.
"Bamboo knot, bell knot, goat knot... As long as it's not too hard, I can do them all. Just say the word anytime."
Seoran clapped.
"Ooh!"
For reference, the only knot Seoran knew was the camping knot.
She'd learned it from YouTube during the camping craze.
But she'd been too busy with work and movies to actually go camping.
Seoran, who had been clapping enthusiastically, voiced a sudden thought.
"But why haven't you ever done it for me?"
"You asked before, and I said no."
"Did I?"
She definitely had—said she hated doing hair ribbons.
And yet, in emergencies, she'd pull them out as daggers, so she always wore hairpins religiously.
It was all because of movies.
Having silenced her sister, Yi Agum asked.
"Dragon Lady, did you buy that ribbon yourself?"
"A child I was playing ball with gave it to me as a gift."
The shyly given indigo ribbon.
It somehow evoked the colors of love.
Yi Agum asked, feigning composure.
"Was it a gift from a boy by any chance?"
"It was a girl. It's a hair ribbon—of course it was."
It wasn't.
After that, the three of them drank tea amiably.
*****
The season turned to winter.
There were no special incidents for several months.
Life in the mountain valley was incredibly boring day by day, but that was the way of a cultivator's life.
Thanks to that, Seoran could focus on her cultivation.
Not needing sleep gave her plenty of time.
She busied herself as a mermaid cult priestess, writing novels, steam room meditation, technique practice, puppet production and improvement, and more.
Lately, she was even learning an instrument.
Damcheong visited after hearing sentimental midnight playing.
"Do you have to play the instrument at night?"
Seoran asked about her petite Leonardo da Vinci.
"Does it carry to the mansion?"
"It carries well. Especially the Violet-Eyed Owls' voices."
"Ah!"
Seoran looked around.
The chorus of the Violet-Eyed Owl legion densely lining the canyon.
She'd thought the distance made it fine, but no.
Seoran apologized.
"I'm sorry, Damcheong."
"It's fine. Just be careful from now on."
"Yes."
At Seoran's gesture, the Violet-Eyed Owls closed their eyes.
The canyon, filled with purple glows, fell into darkness.
Marching band practice would have to be during the day.
On the way back together, Seoran asked.
"By the way, Damcheong, do dragons absolutely have to sleep?"
"It's not strictly necessary for sustaining life, but it's best to sleep as much as possible."
"Oh, why is that?"
Damcheong looked at the decoration on her antler and said.
"A dragon's sleep is similar to a cultivator's meditation. It's a process of reflecting on a long life and coming to know oneself. You could choose never to sleep if you wanted, but there's no reason to, is there?"
"So you sleep every day."
"Right. We sleep even more in the cold. But why do you ask?"
"I was wondering if we could secretly ascend while the Poison-Eyed Dragon is sleeping."
Damcheong thought for a moment before saying.
"It's a novel idea, but it won't work. He's been at the center of the world for over two thousand years, hasn't he? With that much poison, sleep wouldn't even enter his eyes."
"Yeah, probably."
"Obvious without looking."
Back at the mansion, Damcheong went to sleep again.
With her sudden free time, Seoran sat at her desk.
She planned to write a letter to Geumyeongyeong in the meantime.
She'd been sending them periodically, but wasn't sure if they arrived.
Morning came, and the maids arrived for work.
She ate the meal they prepared and waited for people.
Today was Jang Seonhwa's day.
Jang Seonhwa had somehow become Seoran's assistant.
Assistant was the term, but she was essentially a disciple.
Usually, Seoran taught her clay crafts or sculpting.
Seoran had high expectations for Jang Seonhwa.
She intended to make her an artist who understood her aesthetics.
The road was still long, but she had plenty of time anyway.
To Seoran, who was loitering near the front gate, an unexpected guest arrived.
Ho Hye-mun, free during winter break.
She came riding a strange mountain goat instead of a flying magic tool.
Ho Hye-mun brushed snow from her shoulders and greeted her.
"Seoran, have you been well?"
"Of course. But that's a new mountain goat."
"Oh, this one? I built up a lot of merit teaching students, so I got it as a reward."
Seoran asked with a puzzled face.
"You picked a mountain goat over a flying magic tool?"
"I don't go out of the Great Barrier much. For wandering the mountains, this one's plenty. Like a yokai, it leaps over cliffs easily. And it's smarter than it looks."
"I see. Come inside first. It's cold, right?"
"Yes, freezing to death out here."
She immediately served warm tea.
After sipping, Ho Hye-mun said.
"Whew, alive now. Winters have been especially cold lately."
"That's what everyone says."
As they chatted about this and that, Jang Seonhwa arrived.
At first, Seoran thought she was a snowman.
Snow had piled up on her thick fur clothes.
Worried, Seoran rushed over.
"Seonhwa, are you okay!?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
Jang Seonhwa hopped in place to shake off the snow.
Then she took off the thick fur coat.
Inside were a few rabbits.
Seoran asked.
"What are these rabbits?"
"I brought them because it was cold."
They'd been sharing body heat with each other.
Jang Seonhwa greeted her former teacher.
A maid brought more tea and carried off the rabbits.
Seemed like she was taking them to where the mountain goat was.
Amid the laughter and chatter, this topic came up.
"Seoran, have you heard? The alliance leadership negotiated with the Herbwood Sect and acquired an Origin Spirit technique. I don't remember the name, but the effects are amazing."
"It must be a wood-attribute technique. What effects?"
"It deals with plant growth."
An old memory surfaced in Seoran's mind.
Herbwood Sect, the cultivation sect ruling the Zhou Kingdom.
In the past, one Origin Spirit Cultivator had abandoned personal cultivation to grow spiritual herbs en masse, reviving the sect.
Now, they hosted the international market in the cultivation world.
Spiritual herb cultivation, plant growth.
It fit perfectly.
"I want to learn it quick..."
Hearing Seoran's mutter, Ho Hye-mun said.
"But it'll be hard right away. You have to harmonize the two types of spiritual power you have first."
"Yeah? Honestly, it feels like it'll take another ten years or so."
Ho Hye-mun laughed and said.
"That's still incredibly fast."
Seoran laughed along.
"Well, with any conscience, it should take at least ten years!"
With Jang Seonhwa laughing too, it was truly harmonious.
*****
Two years later, Seoran harmonized her two types of spiritual power.