Chapter 91: A New Mental Cultivation Method
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 91: A New Mental Cultivation Method
Lick.
I licked the corner of my mouth.
It was a breathtaking sight, the kind that would make me let out an involuntary cry of glee.
My mouth is already watering.
Old Man Compy flinched in surprise, but it was hard to hide my craving for the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
To think I'd find that mural in a corner like this.
No matter how I looked at it, didn't it look exactly like the one the Heavenly Demon was said to have left behind?
Of course, it might not be the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
The cave where the Utahraptor had been sleeping. The mural I saw there also bore the Heavenly Demon's traces. According to Baek Yeon-yeong, while the Heavenly Demon had indeed left it, it couldn't be called the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
In other words, while it was a martial art created by the Heavenly Demon, it was considered lacking for the 'Divine Art' title.
Of course, since the standard for 'lacking' was the Heavenly Demon himself, it was an incredibly precious martial art for a Murim beginner like me.
Besides, I could also see what looked like elixirs next to it.
I wonder if I can sneak one out when I leave later.
Either way, my mouth was watering.
At the same time, a question arose.
The entrance to this cave was extremely narrow. And it wasn't the kind of place that widened on the inside. It was so cramped you could call it a chance crevice in the rock rather than a proper cave.
And yet, there's a mural left by the Heavenly Demon in a place like this?
I narrowed my eyes and examined the cave closely. No matter how I looked, I couldn't understand it. There were no special mechanisms, and the structure didn't seem to have changed.
In other words, this cave was unchanged from the time the Heavenly Demon carved the passages on the mural.
I thought back to the murals in the Silver Dragon Cave and the Utahraptor's hideout. Weren't the passages carved at a height that my Gomodo-Lania form could barely reach even when fully stretched out?
But now, it was at a height lower than my current Green Basilisk form.
Just what kind of being was this Heavenly Demon to make something like this possible?
"Gekek."
I glanced at Old Man Compy. He was looking at me with interested eyes.
It seemed he had noticed I was engrossed in the mural.
Right. This old man probably had no idea what was carved on the wall. He seemed to know a thing or two about martial arts, but these were passages carved by the Heavenly Demon himself.
He probably brought me here just to show me the drawings carved at the bottom, but since my gaze was fixed on the text, he must be thinking, Ah, this fellow knows a thing or two.
"Kek-kek."
The old man's expression softened slightly. How should I describe it? It was a look that said, Maybe I'll forgive your transgressions. You're a rather useful fellow, after all.
Wouldn't a disapproving father-in-law make the same face if I told him my salary was higher than he expected?
There was only one thing I could say.
"Gekek..."
I don't know anything.
"Kek?"
Of course, I couldn't even read the script used here. I'd occasionally recognize a Hanja character [a Chinese character used in Korean], but that was, quite literally, a rare occurrence. The vast majority of the characters were unknown to me.
If I can't even read the words properly, how could I possibly interpret those profound passages?
I might have a chance with the beginner-friendly drawings next to them. That one looks roughly like someone practicing Qi Cultivation. That was the extent of my understanding.
The Heavenly Demon's traces, a mix of straight and curved lines, were far too profound for me to comprehend.
It might be a different story if I brought Baek Yeon-yeong here. Still, I decided to memorize it for now. When I met her later, I could either bring her to this place or diligently trace the lines with my claws. She might be able to tell me something then.
"Kek!"
Thwack!
Old Man Compy bonked me on the head, letting out a cry that seemed to say, I knew it.
It felt like my skull was caving in.
"Ke, keek?"
This is fine, right?
Old Man Compy looked a little flustered, then quickly cleared his throat as if nothing had happened.
My face felt like it was turning into a triangle.
"Kek-kek."
Old Man Compy rummaged under his scales and pulled out a familiar object.
[High-grade Inner Core]
A high-grade Inner Core!
So the old man understands the concept of a reward. I wasn't sure if it was compensation for cracking my skull or for defending his territory, though.
Just as I was about to lower my head and gratefully accept it, I had a faint inkling of its origin.
...Isn't that the one from inside the Megatherium?
I snapped my head up to look at Compy. The way he furtively avoided my gaze confirmed it.
That was mine to begin with!
I was too busy playing with the other lizards... no, I mean, assessing the damage to notice. When did he even take it?
Still, it saved me the trouble of carving it out myself, so I decided to be generous and accept it. Besides, I was already planning on 'receiving a donation' of those elixirs over there.
The inner core's grade was 'High'.
High-grade. It certainly wasn't a low level, but something felt a little lacking.
The inner core I got from catching the Cockatrice was a 'Peak-grade' inner core. The Megatherium was a tougher opponent than that Cockatrice.
Of course, the Cockatrice's main weapon was petrification, while the Megatherium was a creature that fought with its size and brute strength, so they were different in nature.
Their combat power itself might be similar. No, even then, they're in the same class. The strength of the Megatherium and the Cockatrice could be considered equal.
The Cockatrice is a creature that only appears in legends. And the Megatherium is a creature that definitely existed in ancient times. As living beings, should the Cockatrice be considered of a higher class?
Then again, being strong doesn't necessarily mean the quality of the inner core is good. If that were the case, hunting a single elephant should immediately yield at least a mid-grade inner core.
High-grade is good enough.
With that mindset, I swallowed it in one gulp.
As expected, there was no immediate change in my body. It seemed that eating an inner core didn't mean its internal energy was instantly absorbed. It was probably added gradually over time. Or, in a desperate situation like with the Dilophosaurus, it could be burned all at once for a burst of power.
Alright, I've swallowed the inner core. Old Man Compy doesn't know the passages on the mural. So why did he call me here? Didn't he bring me here for a reason?
That inner core, too, seemed like something he was going to swallow himself but gave to me because he felt bad for pecking my head.
"Gek."
Spit it out.
Old Man Compy looked at me with suddenly serious eyes.
"Kekekek!"
He shouted something unintelligible without the help of the status window and grabbed my arm. Then he began to scan my body all over.
Compy started pulling at my body, just like when Baek Yeon-yeong said she would teach me martial arts. What's with this old man?
It'd be one thing if it were Baek Yeon-yeong or the Snake Queen. I have no interest in being touched by a male. At least bring Tus, Pus, Nephila Jurassica, or Swish-Swish.
"Gekek."
I made a 'gekek' sound to show my extreme discomfort. But I didn't attack Compy or anything.
He's my father-in-law, at least on paper. How could I commit such an act of disrespect? Besides, the fact that he brought me all the way here suggested he had something planned.
The old man tapped my scales. It was a strange feeling. Should I say it felt like something hot was boiling up inside my body?
"Ge... geek!"
Where are you touching? Not even Baek Yeon-yeong has touched there.
Old Man Compy tapped one of the scales on my chest. The hot energy intensified. If I were to visualize it, it would be fire. Something even stronger than Hwari's fire energy surged within me.
What on earth was this?
I lowered my head to look at my scales and saw one that was strangely inverted.
Right. A reverse scale.
...I had a reverse scale?
No, I knew I had a reverse scale. But that was the name of a skill. I didn't know I actually had a scale growing backwards on my body.
I had never once touched the reverse scale before. Its exact location was hidden between the scales on my chest.
In other words, it was structured so that even if my chest was attacked, the other scales would protect it. It would be even safer when my body was larger, since the scales themselves would be bigger.
With my Dragon Scales packed so densely, it was no wonder I hadn't known of its existence. But now? By flipping through the scales with his hand, he could find it easily.
Of course, the old man didn't touch the reverse scale directly. He only touched the scales around it. Even so, I felt a sensation I had never experienced before in my life.
It literally felt like fire energy was about to spew from my mouth.
Right. A reverse scale isn't a dragon's weakness. It's a sensitive spot that, when touched, infuriates the dragon and makes it kill the offender.
Compy seemed to know this, as he was only touching the area around the reverse scale. It was irritating, but I was in an ambiguous state, not quite angry enough to lash out.
"Grrr..."
I let out a displeased growl. Even if he was my father-in-law, this was too much. If it were the Snake Queen touching me, I would have welcomed it with both arms, but this was different.
If he accidentally brushed against the reverse scale, I might just bite him. As I was thinking that, Compy took his hand off my scales.
But the fire energy, once stirred, did not easily subside. An unresolvable heat filled my body.
"Grrr..."
Compy took a step back and watched me observantly. After observing me for several minutes, he confirmed I wasn't taking any action and plopped down on the spot.
Then, Compy sat in the lotus position.
I wasn't surprised. For a dinosaur that used martial arts and possessed profound internal energy, striking such a pose wasn't strange at all.
But why now, of all times? Why did he bring me to this place? To warn me to be careful because I have a reverse scale? Was that something he needed to drag me into this dark cave and demonstrate physically?
No, there had to be another reason.
The inner core I just ate. The passages and drawings carved on the mural. Old Man Compy's lotus position. And this strange feeling I got from having my reverse scale touched. A feeling that, if I had to define it, was close to anger.
That old man is guiding me. After deliberately amplifying my fire energy, he's showing me how to calm a troubled mind through the lotus position.
Now I finally understood his intention for bringing me here.
There was a mental cultivation method I'd obtained when I first succeeded in the Small Heavenly Cycle.
「White Egg Mental Cultivation Method」
A very basic internal energy cultivation method. It possesses the potential to evolve into any other method.
The White Egg Method. Whenever I used internal energy myself, without the power of the status window, I always relied on this method. However, its efficiency could hardly be called high.
Compared to all the elixirs and inner cores I had consumed, its output was always disappointing. If I had to assign a grade, the Nine Yin White Bone Claw would be peak-grade, while the White Egg Method would be low-grade.
Compared to the techniques and martial arts I possessed, this mental cultivation method was lagging far behind. In a way, what I needed most urgently was a new one.
After all, handling internal energy more efficiently would be like strengthening all my other techniques.
But there was nowhere suitable to learn one. Learning from Baek Yeon-yeong was impossible because, as she'd said, our body structures were fundamentally different. The same went for the Snake Queen.
A being with a similar body structure to mine, profound internal energy, and goodwill towards me. I either had to find such a being or attain enlightenment on a new method myself.
"Kekek."
And such a being was now sitting in the lotus position right before my eyes.
The White Egg Method. A method that was, quite literally, like a white egg. A very basic method, with no telling what it would evolve into.
The time had come to crack that egg open.