The Weight of an Aura
The kindness U Do-baek showed was in no way inferior to what Yu Jeonggyeom had displayed; if anything, it was even more pronounced. Jekyeong did not believe for a second that the old man was doing all this out of pure, unadulterated goodwill toward a fellow reincarnator. He clearly had a purpose, and Jekyeong suspected it was to forge a connection with him. Was it another case of 'sowing seeds'? Perhaps, perhaps not.
"There are several," U Do-baek said. "As you will soon realize, our time in Bul-mang-won is limited. Because of that, it is difficult to travel far and explore different places. Most people have a set area of activity and interact exclusively with a small circle of like-minded individuals within that region."
Naturally, it was mental power that formed and moved the spiritual body. To travel faster and farther, one required a stronger mind. Except in rare cases, mental power grew stronger as one's cultivation realm progressed. Thus, cultivators who were merely at the Foundation Establishment stage found long-distance travel to be a significant burden. Of course, Bul-mang-won was not as vast as the Changram Realm, so if one were truly determined, they could overcome the physical distance. But why bother? One must never forget that their primary life lay in the Changram Realm. Cultivation was paramount, and one could not ignore their life in the cultivation world. The time spent in Bul-mang-won was, in essence, like a brief respite.
"Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. I have heard of those who wander endlessly, claiming they want to explore every corner of Bul-mang-won. Do you happen to share that ambition?"
"Not at all."
Unless he found himself with an absolute excess of time and nothing better to do in the distant future, Jekyeong had no intention of indulging in such leisure.
"If you do not mind, I can introduce you to a few gatherings I frequent. The fellow Daoists there will likely welcome you."
"Is it because I am a demon beast?"
"To be precise, it is because you are a demon beast with a stable Sim-gyeong," U Do-baek corrected. "As you might have guessed, the Beast Race is not particularly welcome in Bul-mang-won. Most of them lack a stable Mind State, making them rather unsuitable companions for interaction."
"What exactly does it mean for their Sim-gyeong to be unstable?"
"Just as it sounds. Because their minds are unstable, they have issues with their temperaments and behavior. Let me put it this way: if a hundred problems arise in Bul-mang-won, ninety of them will involve the Beast Race. Yet, if there are a thousand cultivators in Bul-mang-won, perhaps fewer than ten of them belong to the Beast Race."
"Ah..." Jekyeong understood immediately.
"I will not hide it from you. I approached you because I believed associating with you would be beneficial to me. Even if not right now, I thought I would reap the rewards someday."
"I figured as much."
"Haha. I suppose my intentions were too transparent."
"It is not that. It is simply because of what Senior Yu Jeonggyeom told me."
"I see. You met a truly excellent Guide."
They descended toward the plateau. As they drew closer, they saw dozens of massive, spire-like stone pillars rising from a wide basin.
"This is the gathering place where the assembly meets. We hold our meetings on every Mansi Day."
"Mansi Day?"
"Ah, you wouldn't know. Let me show you. Open your mind and do not resist."
No sooner had U Do-baek finished speaking than an image, like a painting, floated into Jekyeong's mind.
If he had not been paying attention, or if U Do-baek had not deliberately highlighted it, Jekyeong would never have recognized it as a distinct shape.
"Do you see it?"
"Yes."
"The assembly meets once every three months. It happens to be in six days. Would you like to attend?"
"I would be glad to."
When Jekyeong readily accepted, U Do-baek looked highly pleased. He was likely thinking that his earnest efforts to explain everything had finally paid off.
There is nothing to lose for me, Jekyeong thought.
Though he had learned much, there was still far more to acquire. Having only just stepped onto the path of cultivation, Jekyeong desperately needed the advice of 'seniors' to guide him, to say nothing of basic knowledge about the cultivation world. He knew all too well that nothing in this world was free, and that the help he received now would eventually have to be repaid as a debt. But that was a matter for the future. It would only happen after he became a Great Demon, and by then, he would likely be able to settle his debts with a smile. So what was the problem? If anything, Jekyeong intended to rack up as many debts as he could right now.
The pond he had seized from the frog—which was wicked in Cheongo's eyes and ugly in Jekyeong's—was the home Jekyeong had grown most attached to in this life. Even putting aside the spiritual energy, its sheer coziness had been entirely to his liking. But now, the spiritual energy had thinned to an uncomfortable degree, and the dropping water level signaled that it was time to move on. Jekyeong smacked his lips as he looked at the pond, which had grown noticeably shabbier since he first saw it.
"A pity," Jekyeong muttered.
"A pity? To leave?" Cheongo asked.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"It was a good place. And I've grown accustomed to it."
For a bird that changed its roosting spot every single night, this sentiment seemed difficult to grasp. Cheongo tilted its head in confusion.
"Never mind. Let's go. Have you checked out the beasts in the vicinity?"
"Yep! Saw them all!"
"And you've identified the ones we can actually hunt?"
"Yep!"
Cheongo possessed another special ability besides flight: the capacity to gauge the strength of others. According to the bird, it only had a decent eye for ordinary beasts, but its accuracy when measuring the Beast Race was exceptionally high. Cheongo itself did not know whether this ability was innate or acquired through experience, but it was undoubtedly an enviable talent.
Of course, that's assuming it's actually true.
If Cheongo had only brought up this ability just now, Jekyeong would have suspected the bird was trying to bait him into a dangerous hunt now that he had become a demon beast. However, since he had learned of this during a casual conversation over a month ago, the likelihood of it being a calculated lie was low.
But I have no other choice.
Jekyeong clicked his tongue inwardly. After becoming a demon beast, an unexpected side effect had emerged. Because his aura had grown so powerful, ordinary beasts could easily sense his approach. No matter how silently he tried to creep up, and even if Cheongo distracted the prey, it was useless. The moment he crossed a certain distance, the prey immediately detected his presence and bolted without looking back. This aura was not something he could control simply by holding his breath or moving stealthily. There was surely a specific technique to conceal one's aura, but that was currently beyond his reach.
If only I had wings.
In truth, he didn't even need wings; just legs to run fast would have sufficed. But he had neither wings nor legs, forced to crawl on his bare belly to close the distance. No matter how much his strength had increased and his movements had quickened, he could not catch up to beasts fleeing for their lives from far away. Consequently, Jekyeong was left with no choice but to hunt creatures that were either too slow to escape or simply refused to run. The problem was that such prey was exceedingly rare. Facing what was essentially a crisis of survival, Jekyeong racked his brain and came up with a solution.
The answer was to target beasts with established territories.
Beasts with their own territories were like mothers protecting their young; they rarely backed down when an enemy invaded their domain. Of course, such creatures were usually the dominant predators of their respective areas, but no matter how strong or ferocious a wild beast was, how could it compare to him, a demon beast?
It was a solid idea.
He had targeted five beasts and managed to hunt one. Well, to be precise, only one out of the five had stood its ground, while the other four had fled without a backward glance. And even the one that stayed did so to protect its offspring, not its territory.
There's no helping it now.
The only saving grace was that his required food intake had decreased significantly since becoming a demon beast. This was because his body, having achieved Spiritual Energy Resonance, had begun to absorb the ambient spiritual energy of heaven and earth, albeit in minuscule amounts. Once his cultivation reached a higher level, he wouldn't need to eat in the conventional sense at all. However, Jekyeong had not yet reached such heights, so food was still necessary for his survival.
"Tell me about them. Start with the closest."
Cheongo had scouted a total of six candidates.
"They're all weaker than you! You can hunt them easily!"
Cheongo spoke confidently, but Jekyeong let the words go in one ear and out the other. Ultimately, he was the one risking his life in battle, not the bird, so he had to be as cautious as possible.
First was a three-eyed leopard. Its size was said to be about twice that of the agile leopard he had encountered before. Jekyeong suspected this beast might be that very same leopard, now evolved into a demon beast. Although Cheongo claimed its aura was significantly weaker than Jekyeong's, it was clearly a fast creature, so he decided to rule it out for now.
Aura isn't what matters. Compatibility is.
Jekyeong considered himself a rather extreme type of demon beast. He possessed no special abilities—only immense strength and a durable body. To make matters worse, he was slow. This meant that regardless of how strong or weak an opponent's aura was, compatibility played a decisive role. Flying creatures were out of the question, and fast-moving beasts were his absolute bane. He wouldn't lose, but if they decided to run, he had no way of catching them. Thus, Jekyeong quickly eliminated four of the candidates, including the three-eyed leopard.
That left only two. One was a monstrous bull that reportedly spat smoke from its nostrils, and the other was a tree—not an ordinary tree, of course, but a Demon Tree. According to the classifications of the Human Race, a Demon Tree belonged to the category of Yao rather than demon beasts, but to Cheongo, there was no difference. The bird viewed this Demon Tree as potential prey and reported it to Jekyeong. Upon hearing about the Demon Tree, Jekyeong was momentarily taken aback, wondering if the bird expected him to chew on tree bark. However, it turned out that the prey Cheongo referred to was not the tree itself, but the fruit it bore.
"It's good stuff! Not as good as the lotus, but still good! And there are lots of them!"
"Hmm."
He hadn't known before, but he did now. When Cheongo said "good stuff," it meant a spiritual treasure. Remembering the lotus that had bloomed on the pond, Jekyeong's mouth watered. One might think a few tree fruits wouldn't be enough to fill his stomach, but spiritual treasures were different. Of course, the fruit of a Demon Tree wouldn't be as extraordinary as the lotus, but a spiritual treasure was still a spiritual treasure.
"You said this Demon Tree uses poison?"
"I think so! If anything gets close, they start wobbling and then just collapse!"
"Is that so?"
Poison... That wasn't bad. He had suspected it before, but hunting the frog had confirmed that he possessed a significant resistance to poison. In the past, Jekyeong had lamented his lack of venom, but it turned out he possessed an even better ability. Furthermore, that resistance existed even before he became a demon beast; now that he had evolved, his immunity to poison was likely even stronger.
A tree Yao. Its weapon is poison. Of course, that won't be all, but even so...
No matter how he looked at it, the compatibility seemed highly favorable. Weighing his options between the smoke-spewing bull and the tree Yao, Jekyeong quickly made his decision.
The territory of the Wood Yao was not particularly vast compared to other members of the Beast Race. Though it had awakened as a Yao, its nature as a tree meant it was virtually stationary. According to Cheongo, this Wood Yao lured other beasts with its fruit and consumed them. For Jekyeong, who had to diligently hunt on foot just to fill his stomach, it was an incredibly enviable ability.
Have I entered?
Moving cautiously to avoid trespassing on the territories of other beasts, Jekyeong felt the ground beneath him soften, signaling that he had finally crossed into the Wood Yao's domain. Whether it was due to the Wood Yao's influence or a deliberate choice of habitat, the soil here was distinctly different. The ground grew increasingly mushy until it turned into a thick, sinking mud. For ordinary beasts, simply moving through this terrain would have drained a significant amount of their strength.
"We're here!"
At Cheongo's call, Jekyeong raised his upper body and looked ahead. Amidst a grove of withered, dead giants, a single, exceptionally large and vibrant tree stood tall. Stripped of the bleak surrounding landscape, the tree possessed an appearance so majestic that one might easily mistake it for a sacred, divine entity.
That's the one.
Plump, luscious fruits hung from branches that seemed to gleam with a healthy luster. While they did not command his gaze quite like the lotus had, it was immediately clear that these were no ordinary fruits.