The Power of Heritage
The talk of the Foundation Establishment Pill seemed to have stirred some nostalgia within them.
"But do you think such a thing as the Foundation Establishment Pill existed from the very beginning? Of course not. It, too, was devised in the dim and distant past by a certain genius senior. That senior could truly be called the savior of the human race. Without them, there would be no Foundation Establishment Pill today, and humans would never have wielded the kind of influence they do now in the cultivation world."
This was the importance of heritage. No genius, however peerless, could rise up and reach the heavens entirely on their own. There had to be a foundation, and for the human race, that foundation was heritage.
"Why do you think other races undergo even the Transformation Tribulation just to take on human form? It is to enjoy the benefits of human heritage."
"Do the other races—for example, the beast race—not have such heritage?"
"You are of the beast race yourself, so you must know. Is every member of the beast race the same?"
Jekyeong shook his head. Though he had no physical head to shake in this state, his intent was expressed through his spiritual body, and U Do-baek understood.
"Indeed. They are grouped under the broad umbrella of the 'beast race,' but even a casual glance reveals how vastly different they are from one another. And what of demon beasts? It is the same for them. Some have wings, some have tails. Some have a single head, while others have many. When their very physical structures are so wildly diverse, how can they be considered the same?"
While the physical body was by no means the entirety of cultivation, it was undeniably one of its greatest foundations. On the path to immortality, even the slightest flaw could plunge a cultivator into an abyss—so what need was there to even speak of the physical vessel?
"Because they are not alike, they cannot communicate their insights to one another. What meaning, then, can heritage hold for them? A ten-thousand-year heritage of the Black Tortoise is worth less than a single earthworm in the dirt to a Blue Bird."
Human heritage was the fruit of endless study and exchange among countless individuals over countless generations. Endless study and exchange. Of those two, exchange was the core. No matter how hard one strove inside a small well, the results of their labor could never exceed the boundaries of that well. But fruits gathered in the vast world outside could grow as large as the world itself.
I see.
Jekyeong finally understood completely. The heritage of the beast race was bound to be meager. In the end, they could never escape their wells. Even if a particular well was several times larger than average, a well was still just a well.
"If they achieve anthropomorphism, can other races enjoy all the advantages of humans?"
"Not all of them," U Do-baek replied. "Even if they achieve anthropomorphism and take on a human shape, their fundamental nature does not change. However, they can enjoy a portion of those benefits. Isn't that alone worth risking the dangers of the Transformation Tribulation?"
Jekyeong agreed wholeheartedly. Taking himself as an example, his current self had no way to cultivate other than eating and sleeping. But what if he could consume human cultivation resources—like alchemical pills, for instance? His cultivation speed would soar as if catching a tailwind.
"To return to the main point, the Transformation Secret Art itself is not particularly precious. After all, the pool of those who wish to practice it is quite limited. If you look for it, it is not difficult to find, but if you try to buy it openly, you will have to pay a hefty price."
Jekyeong understood immediately. In short, it was a mere pebble to those who had no use for it, but a precious gem to those who did.
"Furthermore, one's cultivation must be at least at the Foundation Establishment stage to practice it. For a demon beast, that means you must be a Great Demon."
"I see."
Since it was only a matter of curiosity for now, he felt no disappointment. Even if he mastered the Transformation Secret Art and took on a human form right this moment, what use would it be other than staring at his reflection in the water and drowning in sentimentality?
Jekyeong expressed his gratitude to U Do-baek and Chae Yeonri for their kind explanations. A moment later, when he felt the seniors had conversed enough amongst themselves, he posed another question.
"Seniors, is there perhaps a way to conceal one's aura?"
"Of course there is."
"It's simple. You just need to use the Presence-Concealing Technique."
As if he had asked what one plus one was, answers immediately popped up from all sides. Jekyeong eagerly inquired about the Presence-Concealing Technique, and his kindly seniors explained it in great detail.
According to their explanations, the Presence-Concealing Technique was not some grand, esoteric secret, but rather a simple trick of manipulating one's qi. However, while the method itself was straightforward, the level of mastery depended entirely on individual skill. Thus, its effectiveness varied wildly from person to person. It was like throwing a punch—one person's might be a laughable, flailing motion, while another's was a sharp, lethal strike.
"The method is simple."
His kind and venerable seniors went a step further and taught him how to use the Presence-Concealing Technique right then and there. Jekyeong repeatedly expressed his gratitude as he absorbed their teachings.
The Presence-Concealing Technique was fundamentally a method of manipulating spiritual energy, so Jekyeong, who had already achieved spiritual energy resonance, could naturally use it. Since he could only exist as a spiritual body in Bul-mang-won, he couldn't verify if he was doing it perfectly, but it didn't feel particularly difficult nonetheless.
It's definitely not hard. Though getting used to it will be a different story.
If he tried to use it right now, he probably couldn't even fool Cheongo, but taking the first step was what mattered. If he practiced diligently, it would undoubtedly be of immense help during his hunts.
"..."
Jekyeong opened his closed eyes. The sensation of his consciousness—or more precisely, a portion of his consciousness—returning to his physical body after drifting into another world was so bizarre that it could only be truly understood through firsthand experience. To use a comparison, it was like suddenly snapping awake from a half-dreaming, half-waking state.
This was a bountiful harvest.
His gathering in Bul-mang-won this time had been highly satisfactory. The senior cultivators of the Mansi Assembly were all favorable toward him and were not stingy with their knowledge. Of course, it might have been because the knowledge was of little consequence to them, but even if something was trivial to oneself, giving it away to a complete stranger for free was no easy task. In that regard, the senior cultivators of the Mansi Assembly were exceptionally generous, and Jekyeong felt deeply grateful to them. If the opportunity ever arose, he intended to repay the favor.
Even if that day does come, it will be in the distant future.
Jekyeong tried to circulate the Presence-Concealing Technique, which he had only understood theoretically until now. Settling one's aura was, in a way, similar to holding one's breath. The only difference was that he had to regulate his existential presence rather than his respiration.
Did it work?
He gathered his aura according to the instructions of the Presence-Concealing Technique, but he had no way of knowing whether he had succeeded. Deciding to test it again once Cheongo returned, Jekyeong wriggled his coiled body back and forth. It was a minor exercise intended to aid digestion, but even he had to admit it didn't seem very effective.
As expected, the meat of a demon beast is different from ordinary meat. Digestion is much slower than I anticipated.
No matter how much he stuffed himself with the meat of ordinary beasts, a single nap was usually enough to digest almost all of it. However, even though several days had passed since he ate the monkey demon beast, his stomach still felt bloated. This was true even though the volume of meat from the three monkeys he had eaten at once was far from enough to actually fill his massive belly. Thus, Jekyeong could only conclude that the meat of a demon beast was fundamentally different from that of a normal animal.
Still... it's not entirely a bad thing.
What did slow digestion imply? It meant it took a long time for his stomach to empty. In other words, he could maintain a feeling of fullness for a long period. At the very least, he wouldn't have to go out hunting while digestion was underway, which was a definite advantage.
Since that tree fellow seems to need time to bear fruit anyway, this works out perfectly.
Mok-yo, despite being a tree, was a creature that grew by consuming blood food, much like any beast. After its main body absorbed enough blood and flesh, it would bear fruit. These fruits were a kind of naturally produced byproduct—akin to human hair or fingernails. Mok-yo could deliberately and artificially accelerate the production of these byproducts. However, doing so supposedly placed a certain amount of strain on its main body. Whether this was actually true or just a story fabricated out of fear that Jekyeong would constantly demand more fruits was impossible to tell.
If it was a lie born of anxiety, it was entirely unnecessary. Jekyeong had no intention of badgering Mok-yo to keep producing fruits. He didn't expect the creature to meekly obey even if he did press it, and in the first place, he wasn't particularly greedy for Mok-yo's fruits. What interested him was not the fruit itself, but the demon beasts it could lure in—or more precisely, the meat of those demon beasts.
Once I finish digesting this meal...
Gauging the subtle changes in his body as digestion slowly progressed alongside his still-bloated stomach, Jekyeong wondered if he might undergo another shedding by the time the bloating subsided. He didn't know the exact conditions required for molting, nor did he know if he could still molt after becoming a demon beast, but he had an intuitive feeling that a major transformation awaited him once this digestion was complete.
If I do molt, I need to plan ahead for it.
Once shedding began, he would be rendered almost entirely defenseless. Fortunately, during his previous molts, one had occurred while he was resting contentedly after a successful hunt, and the other had taken place while he was lounging peacefully at the bottom of the pond, so he had never been caught in a precarious situation. Looking back, he had been incredibly lucky. But he couldn't blindly expect his luck to hold out forever. What if he suddenly began to molt in the middle of a frantic battle? That would be a death sentence. The opponents he would face from now on were not ordinary beasts, but formidable demon beasts.
It would be great if I could sense the signs of molting beforehand.
On second thought, it didn't seem entirely impossible. Even now, didn't he have an intuitive feeling that a major change would occur once the monkey demon beast meat in his stomach was fully digested? If he could hone this sense and achieve complete introspection, he would be able to prepare for shedding to some extent.
Of course, this was assuming he would still molt even after becoming a demon beast, but even if that weren't the case, the ability to introspect was necessary. Cultivation was, in a sense, the constant refining of oneself, making self-awareness both fundamental and essential. While simple-minded, brute demon beasts lived without a second thought, guided solely by instinct and intuition, Jekyeong—who still firmly considered himself human—could not afford to do so.
As far as he could tell, demon beasts lacked any proper system of cultivation. Perhaps high-ranking entities like Great Demons were different, but at least from what he had observed so far, that was the case. In a way, this was only natural. Demon beasts could grow stronger simply by eating continuously, meaning a path was already laid out for them. Why would they trouble themselves to find a better path when one was already open? Especially when, despite their awakened intelligence, their original nature was still that of beasts?
The heavens were fair. Just as they bound a weak body to humanity's exceptional wisdom, they bound a lack of wisdom to the demon beasts' powerful bodies. This was not limited to just these two races; every race in the world possessed its own flaws. Therefore, regardless of their race, cultivators used cultivation to mend their innate deficiencies, achieve perfection, and advance toward transcendence.
In that regard, Jekyeong possessed an immense advantage. He held the powerful body of a demon beast while simultaneously retaining the wisdom of a human. Perhaps the seniors in Bul-mang-won had shown interest in him and highly evaluated his potential for this very reason.
But potential is just potential.
Even after becoming a demon beast, Jekyeong did not discard his cautious attitude. While he could enjoy being treated as a promising prospect inside Bul-mang-won, outside of it, he was merely a single demon beast that had to continue its struggle for survival. Thus, until the day came when he no longer had to fear climbing to the heights and could roar to his heart's content without worry, he had to remain constantly careful and vigilant.
After picturing that day—whenever it might come—in his mind, Jekyeong formulated his future plans. His strategy of using Mok-yo's fruits to lure in demon beasts was quite solid, even upon second thought. However, this was not a hunting method he could exploit indefinitely. No matter how simple-minded the demon beasts were, they would eventually find it suspicious if he sat in one spot and kept waving the bait. Therefore, Jekyeong estimated that this hunting method would reach its limit after three or four times at most. After that, he would have to leave this place and search for a spiritual territory as originally planned.
A spiritual territory...
Finding a spiritual territory and hunting the other demon beasts settled there had been his original plan, but meeting Mok-yo had given him a different idea. This fellow was highly unique and useful. Though yokai differed from demon beasts in that they possessed all sorts of rare and extraordinary abilities, Mok-yo had to be a special breed even among them. What kind of yokai could produce spiritual items so easily? Although they might fall short compared to naturally formed "genuine spiritual items," the value of Mok-yo's fruits was undeniable.
With that tree fellow, I can set up shop anywhere.
After finishing a couple of hunts here, he could take Mok-yo and move to another far-off location. Then, he could use the fruits as bait to hunt there, and move on to yet another place...
Splendid.
It was a truly beautiful picture. Of course, the world was never so simple, and all sorts of unexpected accidents could occur, but regardless, having Mok-yo and its fruits would make hunting demon beasts far easier. The problem lay in how to coax the fellow...
I just need to produce decent results once or twice. Then that tree fellow will realize that traveling with me is far more beneficial than rotting away in this single spot.
To achieve that, he would have to share a fair portion of the prey, but considering Mok-yo's value, it was a reasonable investment. After all, unlike Cheongo, the fellow was a genuine member of the beast race.
Speaking of which, when is that bird coming back?
Cheongo had not shown its face since taking one of Mok-yo's fruits and a hand of the monkey demon beast. Jekyeong figured the bird was likely still busy digesting its meal. Even if it was quite intelligent, it was ultimately just an ordinary beast, so digesting the meat of a demon beast would require a considerable amount of time.