An Unexpected Talent

After all, Yang-seo-ho was home not only to the Beast Race, who were hostile to them, but also to the Gakchung Clan, the true overlords of the lake. Would the Human Race dare to venture into their territory just to map out the geography? Such a provocative act could instantly trigger a war between the races.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself. As you said, Yang-seo-ho is incredibly vast, and there are plenty of terrifying monsters out there that could easily hunt down a fat crow."

"Caw!"

Letting out a disgruntled cry, Cheongo habitually tried to return to its nest to lie down. But halfway down, the bird froze in an awkward, half-perched posture.

"You've gained weight. Well, you've been idling around for so long, it would be stranger if you hadn't."

At Jekyeong's sarcasm, Cheongo let out another indignant "Caw!" to protest, but that didn't make the cramped nest any wider.

"Caw!" Cheongo flustered, not knowing what to do. Its glittering nest was a sanctuary it had painstakingly built piece by piece over a very long time. The bird's attachment to its nest bordered on obsession.

In the past, Jekyeong had accidentally damaged the nest a few times during his cultivation. Each time, he had to endure days of Cheongo's relentless, disgruntled nagging.

I hope that uselessly glittering eyesore collapses completely this time.

Since he had been the one in the wrong back then, he had no choice but to silently endure the nagging. But that was then, and this was now.

"Caw!" Unable to settle in, Cheongo hastily took flight. It stared down at the slightly tilted nest with a conflicted expression, then glanced down at its own plump, protruding belly. Its already gloomy face sank even further into depression.

"It's fine. You can easily lose weight if you set your mind to it."

Jekyeong put his superb acting skills to work once again. In truth, Cheongo hadn't gotten fat; its body had naturally grown larger upon evolving into a Great Yo-beast. As for the chubby belly? The bird had possessed that long before it became a sleep addict.

"Sigh. I'll have to build a new one." Cheongo's sighing mutter almost broke Jekyeong's concentration for a moment. It still hasn't given up? Does this creature absolutely have to sleep in such a gaudy nest to be satisfied? Fine. I give up trying to understand.

"Whether you build a new one or not is up to you. More importantly, ten days have passed, so you must have grasped your new abilities to some extent by now, right?"

"Huh? Abilities?"

"Yes. The ability you used so freely while talking in your sleep."

"Eh?" Cheongo tilted its head from side to side, looking utterly bewildered.

"You don't know?"

"Yeah. I don't know what you're talking about."

Jekyeong's eyes narrowed. There was no reason for Cheongo to lie to him about something like this. Did it really not know? Jekyeong slowly and thoroughly explained the Innate Divine Ability he had witnessed and analyzed.

"An Innate Divine Ability?" Cheongo's eyes went wide upon hearing the explanation. It looked visibly delighted and excited, as if it had just received an unexpected gift.

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"Hup!" Forgetting all about its tilted nest, the bird began to flap its wings vigorously. At first, it flapped them wildly in the empty air. When that yielded no results despite its best efforts, it eventually pointed its wings toward Jekyeong.

"...It's not working?"

"..." Jekyeong stared at Cheongo as if looking at an idiot.

"Common sense dictates that a Divine Ability wouldn't be that simple to use."

"But I don't know what to do."

"If you don't know, how would I? At any rate, you definitely possess that power. You'll have to figure out how to draw it out and manifest it on your own."

Watching Cheongo's foolish antics, Jekyeong got a general grasp of the situation. Cheongo had undoubtedly awakened an Innate Divine Ability. There was no mistake, as he had witnessed it with his own eyes. However, it seemed that awakening a Divine Ability did not mean one could immediately wield it at will. At the very least, Cheongo hadn't even been aware that it had awakened such a power.

Is it always like this? Since the concept of an Innate Divine Ability was already so absurd by his standards, this logical limitation actually felt strange to him.

"I don't get it. I don't get it at all." Cheongo's declaration of surrender didn't bother him. He hadn't expected this birdbrain to find the answer on its own in the first place. As always, the burden of thinking fell upon him.

"Your Divine Ability is related to the soul. So, let's try approaching it from that angle." Jekyeong took out the Suhonsul technique he had previously obtained from Gwak Jeong-sin. Among all the cultivation techniques and secret arts he possessed, this was the only one related to the soul.

However, he had only mastered this useful secret art to a basic level, for the same reason as the Blood Contract Restriction. He simply lacked the aptitude and talent. On top of that, Suhonsul was even more complex than the Blood Contract Restriction. A single mistake could easily turn the target into a vegetable, so he couldn't afford to experiment with it recklessly.

"Try learning this." Jekyeong didn't expect much. Suhonsul was likely far too complex for a birdbrained Great Yo-beast to comprehend. He would let it try for now, but he figured he would have to look for an easier technique later—

"..." Jekyeong stared up at the sky in silence. For some reason, the cloudless, sunny sky felt exceptionally irritating today.

Ultimately, Cheongo failed to replicate its Innate Divine Ability, but it did yield a significant harvest. Incredibly, this childish crow possessed a natural talent for soul-related secret arts—more specifically, illusion magic (Hwan-sul).

Jekyeong had only taught it the basics of Suhonsul, and Cheongo had simply listened to the rough gist of the technique before applying it. Yet, the effects of the technique it used so casually were far superior to when Jekyeong used it with absolute focus.

Jekyeong even doubted whether Cheongo was actually using a secret art at all. This was because Cheongo's Suhonsul activated instantaneously the moment it made eye contact with a target.

The moment Qi Condensation cultivators met Cheongo's gaze, the light instantly drained from their eyes, turning them into puppets that obediently answered any question. Even if Jekyeong exerted his full power to cast Suhonsul, he could never achieve such an instantaneous effect.

When asking sensitive questions, it usually took Jekyeong a considerable amount of time to extract an answer, and on rare occasions, Qi Condensation cultivators with exceptionally strong willpower could break free from his Suhonsul entirely. In contrast, Cheongo, who had only learned the technique a few days ago... was already a master of the art. And that wasn't all.

"Caw! Further to the right! To the right!" Watching Cheongo tuck its wings tight against its body, hold its head high, and bark meaningless orders, Jekyeong was reminded of a memory from his past life.

A balding, pot-bellied, middle-aged man who would stand with his hands behind his back, doing nothing but talking while everyone else worked. That obnoxious figure, rubbing his bloated stomach while others massaged their aching backs, overlapped perfectly with Cheongo's current behavior.

In truth, Jekyeong knew this was nothing but petty jealousy. But he couldn't help the bitter taste in his mouth. Cheongo had used a form of hypnosis that surpassed mere Suhonsul to turn five human cultivators into puppets. The problem was that the only thing it used them for was building its nest.

The newly constructed nest was still gaudily glittering and ridiculously massive. Just looking at it made Jekyeong feel strangely uncomfortable.

Well, I suppose that is a form of cultivation in its own way.

Originally, although Cheongo possessed Spiritual Intelligence, it had a playboy temperament and tended to pursue only pleasure. However, after dreaming of 'the Seonin,' its personality had changed drastically. One could say it had awakened to its identity as a cultivator. While it wasn't as desperately devoted to cultivation as Han Cheongyu, it now possessed an ambition to improve that rivaled any ordinary cultivator. Aside from its ridiculous hobby, the bird could now be considered a proper cultivator.

In truth, this change had occurred quite some time ago, but because sleeping had been its primary method of cultivation recently, it hadn't had the chance to display such cultivator-like traits. But now that it had become a Great Yo-beast and freed itself from its sleep addiction, things were different. Even turning human cultivators into puppets to build a nest held some meaning.

"Wipe it! Wipe it clean! Make it shinier!" ...Probably.

Perhaps because its absurd talent for Innate Divine Abilities and illusion magic was so deeply impressive, Cheongo's other capabilities fell short of expectations. Although its physical size and strength had increased, making its combat power incomparably stronger than during its time as a mere Demon Beast, its battle prowess was still rather underwhelming for a Great Yo-beast.

But Jekyeong didn't mind. He had never expected combat prowess from Cheongo in the first place.

"I need you to act as my proxy."

"Proxy?"

"You will patrol the islands within my water territory periodically on my behalf."

Until now, Jekyeong hadn't paid much attention to the humans living within his waters. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠He had only forbidden them from interacting with humans from the outer regions on their own, but he hadn't tried to extract any profit from them. It wasn't that he lacked the desire, but rather that they were so impoverished and untalented that there was simply nothing of value to take.

But now, the situation had changed. Over time, Jekyeong had bestowed cultivation methods upon the humans within his waters, gifted them various basic cultivation techniques, and provided them with spiritual food. All of that investment had been for this very moment.

Now that they had grown plump and prosperous, it was time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to collect what he had held back on demanding. There would likely be backlash. Out of sight, out of mind; whether it was affection or fear, emotions naturally faded when they weren't felt directly for a long time.

The oppression of the Heok-gyo-bang had been absolute, whereas Jekyeong's rule had been closer to laissez-faire. Consequently, the humans had likely forgotten just how terrifying the Black Flood Dragon—the very entity that had crushed the Heok-gyo-bang—truly was.

Controlling them was simple. If they had forgotten their fear, he just had to instill it in them once more. However, Jekyeong didn't want to do that. It wasn't out of mercy, but purely because it was a hassle. If he had the mental energy to spare on such trivial matters, it was far better spent on his own cultivation.

Originally, he had planned to use his human subordinates on Heukgyodo, but now that Cheongo had broken through the barrier to become a Great Yo-beast, a much better option had presented itself.

"Can I really do it?"

"You don't need to do anything special. Just fly over the islands and threaten them appropriately depending on the situation. They will submit on their own."

No matter how unreliable it seemed, Cheongo was still undeniably a Great Yo-beast. Just a few cries from the bird would cause most humans to lose their will to resist and fall to their knees.

"Okay, I got it. Do I go now?"

"No. We must notify them first."

A few days later, Jekyeong summoned his human subordinates, including Han Cheongyu. They initially seemed bewildered by the sudden summons, but their expressions instantly stiffened the moment Jekyeong revealed his business. Jekyeong watched their reactions closely. This was a simple directive, but it was also a test.