Chapter 93: Misunderstanding
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 93: Misunderstanding
I wasn't entirely sure about the standards that defined the different martial realms.
If I crawled over to Baek Yeon-yeong and gek'd at her, she'd probably tell me, but I had no way of knowing on my own. I couldn't get a good grasp of my own strength.
And I didn't know the level of a Peak Realm master in this world, either.
However, if the standard for the Peak Realm was having one's middle dantian opened, then I could certainly call myself a Peak Realm master.
Of course, it would be hard to compare myself to a human.
Before my middle dantian opened, I could have been called a First-Rate master.
And that fellow Baek Woon I saw was probably around the First-Rate level too.
Even though we were both First-Rate, five Baek Woons together probably couldn't have dealt any significant damage to me.
That's how big the difference was between me and an ordinary human.
In other words, even now, having just entered the Peak Realm, I was likely far stronger than a human at the same level.
The gap would probably shrink as the realms got higher, but at this stage, where external power still plays a large role, the strength of a seven-meter lizard armed with dragon scales would be nothing short of a disaster for martial artists.
“Gek!”
Besides, my growth wasn't over yet.
My middle dantian may have opened, but the elixirs and inner cores inside my body were still not satisfied.
Their home had gotten a bit bigger.
The fire and cold energies could now stay in separate rooms.
But those guys were still complaining that my dantian was too cramped.
Greedy bastards.
Then again, look at how many elixirs I've eaten.
The fact that the inner cores and elixirs were acting this way was good news for me.
If I could handle my mental cultivation method better or somehow improve the dantian itself, I could make the remaining power of the elixirs completely my own.
There was still more power left than what had brought me to the Peak Realm in a single burst. If I made all of it my own, I could aim for something beyond the entry level of the Peak Realm.
Still, for now, I was satisfied with this.
If that Baek Woon fellow saw this, he would've rolled over in shock.
After I saved him and showed him the Mount Zhongnan Sect's swordsmanship a few times, Jang Bong had muttered.
That he hadn't been able to reach the Peak Realm for ten years.
Of course, after he said that, the profound principles of the Thirty-Six Swords of the World did indeed reach Jang Bong.
Baek Woon had received the teachings of the Mount Zhongnan Sect, one of the Nine Factions and Five Families.
From the way he talked, he seemed to have been quite the promising talent.
Even someone like him had failed to overcome the wall to the Peak Realm and remained at the First-Rate for ten years.
Compared to that, I was an extreme exception.
To reach the Peak Realm within three months of being born.
It was a triumph that naturally brought out a 'gek' of joy.
That's enough reflection on the Peak Realm. Let's examine the mental cultivation method I just obtained.
「Gaegaek Mental Cultivation Method」
Gaegaekgaegaekgaegaek (愾喀塏揢開客).
A mental cultivation method created by a certain lizard who is the companion of the Snake Queen, the companion of the Snake Princess, who stole the body and heart of the spider, and even captivated a human.
It circulates the internal energy throughout the body with the profound principles of Gaegaek and increases the proficiency of dragon-related skills.
…Why is the description like this?
Can't this be edited?
I glanced cautiously at my father-in-law.
What if that old man had a skill like 'Wild Eyes' or a superior version of it, and could read my skills?
My spectacular history with women... no, with females, would be exposed.
“Keek…?”
Fortunately, it seemed he had no such thing.
The old man was just looking surprised at my suddenly amplified internal energy.
After staring for a long while, the old Compy finally nodded.
[Little Dragon acknowledges you.]
[【Little Dragon Faith】 is influenced by 【Gaegaek Faith】.]
Oh?
[【Gomodo-Lania】 has become the son-in-law of the 【Little Dragon Faith】.]
Did my father-in-law just acknowledge me?
Alright!
…Is this really a good thing?
Haven't I just become irrevocably entangled with the Snake Queen's side?
I thought of myself as a husband on paper only, but now my father-in-law has found out.
And now my father-in-law is going around bragging about it to the whole neighborhood.
There's no backing out now, is there?
…Could the Snake Queen have been aiming for this?
Nah, no way.
Tsk. Still, this is a bad turn of events.
I should try to explain myself, even now.
I might get hit with a stick a few times, but I might be able to clear up the misunderstanding.
[You will share a portion of the experience points gained by the followers of the 【Little Dragon Faith】.]
[You will share a portion of the divinity sent by the followers of the 【Little Dragon Faith】.]
Alright!
*
Guooooo.
Gaechalgoatal's nest was like a grand temple.
The king of birds, with its giant wings spread, stared down at the ground.
“Uooooooo!”
He let out a roar filled with rage.
The situation was not good.
The wound from the Snake Queen still stung, and the new one from Little Dragon, while not dangerous, was certainly annoying.
“How dare... How dare...”
Unlike when he faced Little Dragon, his voice was now slurred.
Nevertheless, the unique dignity of a king remained, turning it into a bizarre, chilling voice.
The wounds on his body were an annoyance, but not a major problem.
The real problem was that the plan he had been weaving had been thwarted.
To be more precise, he had lost two of his subordinates.
Not common underlings like the Terror Birds, but subordinates so exceptional that losing them was a painful blow.
Of course, this didn't mean the Bird King had been overtaken by the Snake Queen.
Even with two subordinates dead, he was still precariously maintaining the balance of power.
This meant that before losing them, the Bird King's side had held the advantage.
And yet, he had not struck the Snake Queen.
Was it because of some lingering affection from having once trained under the same master?
No. That couldn't be it.
The reason he hadn't attacked her was because he wasn't certain.
Whether Little Dragon would side with the Snake Queen or simply watch from the sidelines.
Even if he defeated the Snake Queen, he would exhaust his strength.
Even if Little Dragon chose to remain an observer, he couldn't rule out the possibility that the spirit beasts on his own side might betray him.
That was why he had waited.
To steadily widen the gap with the Snake Queen and win with overwhelming power.
To become so strong that he wouldn't fear Little Dragon's intervention, so strong that no one would dare betray him.
He had slowly and meticulously carried out his plan over a long time.
He not only increased his forces by recruiting four-legged beasts like the Megatherium, but he even reached out to those in the Snake Queen's camp.
The most prominent example was Gogadurisu.
When he had brought him to his side, the Bird King had thought the time was near.
But the appearance of the lizard with dragon scales had ruined everything.
The moment they first met, he should have killed it, even if it meant overextending himself.
He never dreamed that such a weak being could cause such massive ripples.
It had defeated Gogadurisu single-handedly and even withstood his mental attack when he descended. It didn't just endure it, either; it created an opening that led to him being hit by the Snake Queen's counterattack.
This was not something a mere lizard should have been able to do.
On top of that, it had become the Snake Queen's companion.
Seeing it enter Little Dragon's territory alone meant it wasn't some puppet of the Snake Queen.
A true companion, equal to the Snake Queen.
And a spiritual being with its own separate faith, no less.
And considering that this being was a young creature, not even three months old, its potential could be seen as limitless.
The Human-faced Bird possessed dozens of abilities.
One of them was to control the bodies of the birds that believed in him.
In a way, it could be seen as an extension of brainwashing, and he had used this ability to possess Gogadurisu's body before.
Though he had been hit by the Snake Queen's counterattack, of course.
But his abilities weren't limited to just possession; he could utilize them in various ways.
The eyes of all birds became the eyes of the Human-faced Bird.
That was why he had spread Terror Birds throughout the jungle.
He couldn't enter the Snake Queen's or Little Dragon's territory directly, but there were ways to exert influence indirectly.
The Snake Queen's companion had mercilessly hunted a Terror Bird.
Instead of eating it on the spot, it had dragged the corpse all the way into Little Dragon's territory.
The Bird King had watched this scene in silence.
He wondered what purpose the Snake Queen's companion had for entering that territory.
The purpose was to learn the Bone Shrinking Art.
Honhwi's technique for reducing one's body size.
Seeing that the lizard had grown to twice the size it was when he first saw it, its sudden growth must have caused various difficulties.
So the Snake Queen had sent her companion to Honhwi to solve that problem.
Whether that was the real purpose or just a pretext, it was certain that it was learning the technique from Little Dragon.
Soon, into the Human-faced Bird's vision—that is, the eyes of the Terror Bird—came the sight of the Snake Queen's companion, now much smaller, and a flustered-looking Little Dragon.
The shared vision was cut off as other lizards began to tear at the leftover meat, but the Bird King had already obtained all the information he needed.
He immediately took action.
He would block Little Dragon himself while sending a subordinate to kidnap the Snake Queen's companion.
Killing it was an option if things didn't go well, but kidnapping and brainwashing it would be the best way to inflict the most damage on the Snake Queen.
It was a perfect plan.
In its shrunken state, it would be no match for a Megatherium.
However, the Snake Queen's companion defeated the Megatherium this time as well.
Unlike when the Terror Bird died, the Bird King couldn't help but take damage when the Megatherium's life was extinguished.
He was even hit by one of Little Dragon's attacks due to the sudden pain.
He retreated, swallowing his anger.
This was the third time he had let the Snake Queen's companion slip away.
The first time, he hadn't paid it much mind, but the second and third times had caused ripples large enough to shake the balance of the entire jungle.
His grand plan was on the verge of collapsing because of a single lizard.
Should he wage an all-out war now, while his forces were still intact?
No.
That would be the worst possible move.
An all-out war might allow him to kill that damn lizard and the Snake Queen at the same time.
But various side effects would follow, so he couldn't launch an all-out war right now.
If he were going to wage an all-out war, he would have attacked long ago.
The Bird King changed his line of thinking.
Things had come to this point because of that one lizard.
If so, then if he could just take care of that one lizard, things would go back to the way they were.
Killing it wouldn't be bad, but if he brainwashed it and made it his ally, the Snake Queen's camp would surely collapse.
The symbolism of a 'companion' was not something to be ignored.
“Uooooo...”
The Bird King summoned his subordinates.
To explain his plan to capture the Snake Queen's companion for good.
Bifang, Rakshasa Bird, or the Jian Bird.
Using them, dealing with that lizard would not be a difficult task.
Of course, the Bird King had been reluctant to use them until now. But if he could make the Snake Queen's companion his ally, or at least kill it for certain, he could accept that level of loss.
The Snake Queen's companion was strong, but it had yet to properly awaken to the ways of handling internal energy.
In human terms, it would be First-Rate at best.
It hadn't even opened its middle dantian.
Sending just one of the three should be more than enough to handle it.
Sending even one might be an excessive investment.
They were spirit beasts of a definite caliber.
Their very existence was a force that could keep the Snake Queen and Little Dragon in check.
In other words, if the Snake Queen and Little Dragon confirmed the absence of even one of them, they might immediately come to attack the Bird King.
One of them wouldn't be a problem, but if the two joined forces, it could become one.
That was why using even one of the three was considered an excessive investment.
“Uooo...”
But it was worth it.
And they were spirit beasts with enough power to complete the mission instantly, as long as they could locate the lizard.
They might be absent for a short while, but it wouldn't be for long.
After all, how much time could it possibly take to deal with a single lizard at the First-Rate level?
Its unpredictability was a bit concerning, but there was no way it could reach the Peak Realm in such a short time.
What kind of being could possibly reach the Peak Realm less than three months after being born?
The Bird King, Gaechalgoatal, thought to himself.