An Unfair Breakthrough
In terms of physical resilience alone, he might be on par not only with mid-stage Great Yao, but even late-stage Great Yao—and perhaps even the physically formidable Great Yo-beasts. Until now, he had no way to make a comparison, but things were different now. The Essence Blood he had condensed on his own and the first physical gateway he had broken through in a daze served as a clear benchmark. "Even for a physically robust Great Yo-beast, if they are only an early-stage Great Yao, condensing Essence Blood is incredibly difficult."
Though the five hunts had ultimately yielded nothing and could be considered a waste of effort, Jekyeong was satisfied. It hadn't been a mere hunt; it was a process of confirming his own superiority and uniqueness. Even if he gained nothing else, he couldn't help but feel pleased and joyful.
Meanwhile, Jekyeong decided to expand his modest exchange circle, which had been maintained with only four members since Daeyeong's death. Previously, procuring goods for trade was no easy task, and he had been reluctant to recruit new members out of fear that inviting someone he couldn't easily handle might lead to losing control of the group or even threatening his own safety. But now, things were different.
With Muk-su, who had been reborn as a Great Yo-beast, consistently producing high-quality Yeonggwa, Jekyeong had no shortage of trade goods, whether he traded the spiritual fruits directly or exchanged them for other items first. Jekyeong was confident he could hold his own against mid-stage Great Yao enemies, unless faced with an exceptionally bad elemental matchup. With this level of strength, controlling any newcomers would be no issue—even if that newcomer happened to be a mid-stage Great Yao. This was not arrogance.
For about a fortnight, Jekyeong had felt that the accumulation of his Monster Power was no longer as smooth as before. This meant he had hit a bottleneck. If he could take just one more step forward, he would instantly enter the mid-stage Great Yao realm. While most other cultivators felt frustrated and helpless when facing a bottleneck, those confident in their ability to break through actually welcomed this temporary obstacle. They knew, quite literally, that it was a hardship that would only linger for a brief moment before passing.
Jekyeong was the same. Even after circulating Bunyeomgong multiple times, his Monster Power remained virtually unchanged, and he quietly bided his time.
Breaking through bottlenecks, whether large or small, was always a massive metamorphosis, and it naturally carried no small amount of risk. Therefore, no matter how confident one was, caution was paramount when crossing a bottleneck. Accumulation, timing, opportunity... Cultivators each relied on their own dependable anchors. Jekyeong was no different. When he broke through the Great Yo-beast Barrier, he had relied on a sudden flash of intuition, or inspiration, to transform into a Great Yo-beast in a single bound.
This time would be no different, and his mind was far more at ease than before. He was merely pausing for a brief moment to catch his breath. On a day when his mind felt unusually serene and his body exceptionally light—that would be the day he ascended to the mid-stage Great Yao realm.
However, the affairs of the world often deviated from expectations without warning. Jekyeong had not the slightest inkling. Who could have guessed that a certain crow Yo-beast, who had been lounging lazily for the longest time, would break through before him? It was a moment he had long anticipated, but his bewilderment far outweighed his joy.
"Breaking through while sleeping? And through the Great Yo-beast Barrier, of all things?"
No matter how vast the world was, was such a thing even possible? Becoming a Great Yo-beast while enjoying a peaceful nap? If the countless members of the Beast Race who lacked the bloodline or fortuitous opportunities, and thus closed their eyes in death without ever becoming Great Yo-beasts, were to witness this sight, what would they think? Though most of them probably lacked the capacity for complex thought, the few intelligent members of the Beast Race who could think and feel emotions... would likely be driven mad with jealousy upon seeing this.
"Mmm-nya..."
A breeze blew. Every time Cheongo smacked its beak and drooled, a wind laden with spiritual energy brushed past its head. Woooong! Jekyeong felt a bizarre wave sweep over him. Although the wave had no adverse effects on him, Jekyeong narrowed his eyes out of instinctive wariness.
"Ah-ha."
After mumbling and drooling for a long while, Cheongo suddenly let out a sound akin to an exclamation and fluttered its wings. Thinking it had finally woken up, Jekyeong looked at its face, only to see its eyes still tightly shut and the corners of its beak curled upward like a human's. It was clear the bird was still wandering in dreamland, likely having a very pleasant dream.
"Unbelievable."
Once curled up, the corners of Cheongo's beak did not come back down. They twitched occasionally, but that was all.
"Hehe."
Another wave rippled out. But this wave was different from the first. It still approached silently and instantaneously, but this time, it carried something within it. When the wave swept over him, Jekyeong felt his wariness melt away, replaced by a sudden surge of joy.
"What is this?"
His emotions were being stirred. Cheongo, who was giggling and flapping a single wing in a frivolous manner, suddenly looked different to him than before. Like water spreading across a sheet of paper, joy diffused through his peaceful mind.
Cheongo the Hypnotist.
A bizarre situation unfolded. Cheongo was the conductor, and its awkwardly outstretched wing was the baton. However, it was not musicians it was conducting, but the surrounding emotions. When the wing stilled, the joy subsided; when it began to flap violently, the corners of Jekyeong's mouth curled upward. Yet, in stark contrast to his twitching lips, Jekyeong's eyes grew cold. The joy he felt right now was akin to a forced laugh brought on by being tickled against his will.
"This wave is interfering with my spiritual soul."
Jekyeong continued to be subjected to the waves radiating from Cheongo. Thanks to this, he managed to grasp roughly how the waves were affecting him. Though he had no idea how such a thing was possible, the emotions Cheongo experienced in its dream were being transmitted directly to him. How should he describe this? Diffusion? Contagion? None of those terms seemed quite right. But one thing was certain: this bizarre phenomenon originated from the mind and soul—the spiritual soul.
Since Jekyeong had previously acquired and learned Suhonsul from Gwak Jeong-sin, his sensitivity to the spiritual soul was reasonably well-developed.
"I can detect it, but I cannot resist it. What an unpleasant feeling."
At some point, the irregularly radiating waves became orderly, and after a short while, they began to gradually subside. Cheongo's expression, which had resembled that of a young child who had just arrived at an amusement park, softened into a peaceful look. Jekyeong instinctively knew that Cheongo's metamorphosis was nearing its final stage.
"Is this ability... Cheongo's Innate Divine Ability?"
Jekyeong understood a Divine Ability to be a sort of unique spell. He couldn't be blamed for this simplistic understanding; even the senior cultivators of Bul-mang-won couldn't offer a better explanation. At best, they merely beat around the bush with loftier words. Using Dharma Power to cause mysterious, bizarre, and powerful phenomena—how was that any different from a standard spell? If there was a difference, it was that most spells could be mastered with enough time as long as the cultivation requirements were met, whereas a Divine Ability was not so simple.
U Do-baek had once said this about Divine Abilities: the cultivation of a Divine Ability depends not on a cultivator's Dao heart, but on the decree of heaven. While Jekyeong didn't know how much exaggeration was mixed into those words, he knew that a Divine Ability was a talent that could not be acquired through mere talent or aptitude alone. If a Divine Ability was already this bizarre, an Innate Divine Ability was on a whole other level. It was a Divine Ability one was born with, as natural as the flesh on one's bones, requiring absolutely no effort. Questioning how such a thing was possible was meaningless. If the acquisition of a Divine Ability depended on the decree of heaven, then an Innate Divine Ability was the absolute epitome of that expression.
"How utterly unfair."
He knew that looking for fairness in the world of cultivation was one of the most effective ways to expose one's own foolishness, yet he still wanted to look up at the heavens and sigh. Breaking through the Great Yo-beast Barrier while having a sweet dream, becoming a Great Yo-beast, and then immediately gaining an Innate Divine Ability upon breakthrough. How could this be? Was this even allowed? Just what kind of incredible immortal affinity did this lazy crow possess? Was this also related to that 'Seonin' of his?
"Ugh." Jekyeong suppressed his irritation and watched the final moments of Cheongo's breakthrough.
"Caw!" With a somewhat distant and grumpy cry, Cheongo opened its eyes. The moment it opened its eyes, it saw Jekyeong coiled up, staring down at it with an inexplicably sour expression.
"Jekyeong."
"You're finally awake."
"Huh?"
"If you've slept enough, why don't you get up?"
Cheongo, who had been lying flat on its back blinking blankly, pushed itself up with its wings.
"Did I... become a Great Yo-beast?"
"Yes. Absurdly enough."
"Huh?"
"It's nothing. How do you feel?"
"Mmm... good. Really good!"
Cheongo took off with a vigorous flap of its wings, only to immediately smack its head against the ceiling and falter. Jekyeong watched the falling stone debris in silence.
"You certainly seem to be doing great."
"I am! I feel amazing!"
For most members of the Beast Race, crossing the Great Yo-beast Barrier unlocked their Spiritual Intelligence, making them considerably smarter, though the degree varied by individual. Cheongo, however, was exactly the same as before. It was still as innocent and naive as a child. For some reason, Jekyeong found its unchanging nature rather satisfying.
"You'll need to get used to the changes."
"Yeah. I've changed a lot. I'm much stronger. It's hard to adjust."
Nodding, Cheongo began to preen its feathers one by one, which had been slightly ruffled when it rammed its head into the ceiling.
"But it's okay. I'll adapt quickly once I fly around a bit. Jekyeong! Can I fly outside the island now?"
Its sparkling eyes were filled with immense anticipation. The corner of Jekyeong's mouth twitched slightly, but he soon turned away in silence as if annoyed. He had originally wanted to talk about the Innate Divine Ability Cheongo had awakened, but it seemed he would have to postpone that discussion for later.
Cheongo, who had departed with excited flaps of its wings, did not return until a full ten days had passed. According to the bird, it had flown continuously without resting for a single day, but it must have been leisurely sightseeing, as it still looked bursting with energy upon its return.
"Jekyeong! This place is seriously huge! It never ends, no matter how far I go!"
Despite becoming a Great Yo-beast, Cheongo hadn't changed a bit, save for being slightly more confident. It was still as hyperactive and prone to making a fuss as ever.
"I told you before. Yangseo Lake is vast."
Had this been his previous world, it would have been called the Yangseo Sea rather than Yangseo Lake. It had been over ten years since he settled here, yet Jekyeong still hadn't fully mastered the geography of Yangseo Lake. It wasn't because he was lazy or uninterested in the outer regions; he simply couldn't, even if he wanted to.
Most of Jekyeong's knowledge had been obtained through Gwak Jeong-sin and the Human Race. However, there was a limit to the information he could acquire that way. He didn't think Gwak Jeong-sin had been intentionally stingy with him. In all likelihood, geographical information on the entirety of Yangseo Lake was something neither Gwak Jeong-sin nor any other high-ranking members of the Human Race in Yangseo Lake possessed.