A Matter of Mindset
Jekyeong fell back into deep thought.
"You had best think this through with the utmost caution. Once you get tangled up with those bastards, you should consider it virtually impossible to extricate yourself." Unlike his usual self, Yu Gon did not chase Jekyeong away or urge him to leave. He seemed genuinely curious about what choice Jekyeong would make. The topic of the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace had clearly piqued his interest.
After a brief silence, Jekyeong spoke again. "Senior, you mentioned that the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace is obsessed with recruiting external kin. If that is the case, does it mean that if I catch their eye, I might be drawn into their fold even if I do not wish it?"
"You are not entirely foolish, then. Yes, you are correct. Once you catch their eye... those bastards will undoubtedly try to reel you in. They might start with honeyed words, or they might resort to coercion right from the outset. But if you reject their offer or drag your feet, they will eventually use force."
His suspicion was confirmed, but Jekyeong felt no joy. In truth, this meant he had virtually no choice at all. If the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace discovered him, they would contact him one way or another, and when that time came, he would be forced to make a decision.
What if that bastard Myeong-ha has already contacted the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace and sold me out...?
The worst-case scenario flashed through Jekyeong's mind.
No, that is unlikely. He wouldn't want to incur my wrath.
Even if Myeong-ha did sell him out to the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace, once Jekyeong joined them, he would become one of their own. Whether as a slave or a servant did not matter. He was a Gyoryong, after all. The Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace, which even Yu Gon described as incredibly arrogant, would never weigh one of their own kin against a mere half-demon. Though, Myeong-ha's status as a servant of Docheol might be a variable...
"Just how powerful is the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace?"
"What do you think?"
"I dare not even imagine."
"Naturally." Yu Gon paused to choose his words. "Whether the lineage of the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace truly traces back to the primordial era, I cannot say for certain. However, it is an undeniable fact that they possess the capital to boast so loudly."
The Dragon Race is also referred to as the Sacred Race. To be precise, they are merely one of the Sacred Races, but the Dragon Race is undoubtedly the representative species that comes to mind when the Yao think of the Sacred Race. The reason dragons are so revered is simple: they are strong. Since the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace is virtually the only major force of the Dragon Race, it is no exaggeration to say that the Dragon Race is the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace. Yu Gon sneered at them as arrogant fools, but he did not disparage their actual strength.
"Within the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace, there are quite a few powerhouses at the Nascent Soul stage—which is to say, the Demon Emperor Realm. They even have a Deity Transformation Daoist Master presiding over them. Do you know what this means? It means there is almost no one in the entire Changram Realm whose feelings they need to spare."
A Deity Transformation Daoist Master. The very sky of the Changram Realm. Shaking off the indescribable sense of vastness that threatened to overwhelm him, Jekyeong asked another question.
"Then... what about a Demon God?"
"A Demon God?" Yu Gon was momentarily taken aback by the sudden question, but he quickly recalled that Jekyeong had previously been entangled with Docheol. "A Demon God... Well, that is hard to say. Since a Demon God is an existence from beyond the heavens, even those haughty bastards of the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace would naturally find them troublesome. But they wouldn't fear them. They must have a reliable backer of their own."
Though it was mere speculation, it was more than enough for Jekyeong to grasp the sheer scale of the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace's prestige.
"So? Do you still intend to join the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace?"
"According to what you have said, Senior, it would be pointless for me to feign ignorance now. Rather than being discovered later and forced to make a choice, I believe it would be better to take the initiative of my own free will."
"That is true." Walking in on your own feet and being dragged in by others are worlds apart. "But I wonder if you can endure it. You have been living as a proud dragon, only to be reduced to a servant in someone else's house in an instant. Will you be fine with that?"
Of course he wouldn't be fine with it.
Who in their right mind would want to plunge into an abyss when they were doing perfectly fine? Jekyeong, too, had felt a surge of intense aversion when he first heard Yu Gon's words. However, upon changing his perspective, he wondered if it was truly such a terrible thing.
Jekyeong tried substituting his current situation with that of a human rogue cultivator, and the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace with a major sect. Viewed through that lens, his situation was no different from a rogue cultivator ending their solitary life to enter a sect as a newly initiated disciple.
The freedom he enjoyed as a rogue cultivator? Naturally, he would have to give that up. Since he would be entering the sect as a fresh disciple, it was also natural that his status would be at the absolute rock bottom. But was that truly a downfall? It all depended on how one looked at it.
In the long run, leaning on the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace was akin to grabbing hold of a sturdy golden rope. Even if he was barely hanging onto the very tip of it, who was to say he couldn't start from there and climb his way all the way to the top?
Yes. This matter depends entirely on my mindset and how I choose to perceive it.
Rare are the things in this world that are purely good, but conversely, things that are purely bad are just as rare. Just as one can find flaws in a good situation, one can also find silver linings in a bad one. Jekyeong laid out his thoughts to Yu Gon exactly as they were.
"Oh?" Jekyeong felt Yu Gon's blatant gaze upon him. It felt entirely different from before.
"Impressive. It might be a bit of a delusion, but it is not a bad mindset. To go far, one needs that kind of mental flexibility."
Yu Gon's radiant spiritual body fluctuated slightly. Jekyeong could sense that the ancient Demon King was smiling, thoroughly amused.
"Very well. Since you have made up your mind, go ahead and try. Who knows? This might actually turn out to be your fortuitous opportunity."
Though he had made his decision and knew how to contact the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace, Jekyeong did not move immediately. He needed preparation, and he needed verification.
Muryangae...
According to Myeong-ha, he had learned of the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace's existence after coming into contact with a Gyoryong in Muryangae.
While trapping a certain Yao King in Muryangae to borrow a spiritual vein, Myeong-ha had ended up forming a sort of cooperation with a Gyoryong who was on bad terms with that Yao King. In the process, he had discovered that the Gyoryong belonged to the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace.
It wasn't a particularly convincing explanation. It was highly uncertain how much of it was true and where the lies began. However, the core facts—that there was a Gyoryong in Muryangae, that the Gyoryong belonged to the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace, and that Myeong-ha had contacted him in some way—had to be true. Otherwise, the story itself wouldn't hold together.
A Gyoryong at the mid-stage of the Yao King Realm. He called him an Earth Dragon.
The simplest method would be to seek out that Earth Dragon in Muryangae and express his desire to join the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace. Since they were serious about gathering the Dragon Race, they wouldn't reject him if he approached them first.
However, even knocking on a door yielded different results depending on when and how one knocked. Even if one used a guide, the treatment one received varied wildly depending on who that guide was.
A mid-stage Yao King Earth Dragon. A fellow who barely managed to occupy a single spiritual vein in Muryangae, using the name of the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace like a protective talisman while boasting of his dragon lineage... In Jekyeong's eyes, such a character seemed utterly unreliable.
Perhaps I can find a better connection within Bulmangwon.
Although most of the seniors in Bulmangwon belonged to the Human Race, there were some Yao seniors as well. Yu Gon was one, but even looking at Muryangae, wasn't there Senior So-byeok-ik-wang? Of course, contacting a senior whose temper was notoriously volatile would be far from easy... but it was at least worth considering.
"My Lord. Now that the Ghost Spider has achieved Core Formation and is attempting to establish a spiritual vein in the demon territory, the Jansu Whale King will soon catch wind of this."
"Undoubtedly."
"Will it be alright?"
While Jekyeong's attention was focused on the Sacred Heaven Dragon Palace, Hyeongu's concern lay with Myeong-ha and the potential fallout of his actions.
"The Jansu Whale King will not look kindly upon another Yao King emerging in his territory. Furthermore, anyone who knows anything is well aware of the relationship between the Ghost Spider and you, My Lord..."
"It is fine. The Jansu Whale King will not dare to demand answers from me."
Of course, the Whale King would be displeased, but what could he actually do about it? Jekyeong did not believe that timid whale would mobilize over something like this. If anything, he thought it more likely that trouble would arise from the Human Race rather than Gyeongwang Palace.
"Do not worry yourself too much either. I am myself, and he is himself. I have no intention of shielding him from the storm."
A business partnership was merely a partnership, not an alliance. If Myeong-ha chose to stir up trouble, he would have to deal with the consequences on his own.
The artificial creation of a spiritual vein brought immense devastation. Because all the ambient spiritual energy of the surrounding region would be sucked into the new vein, the entire area would effectively be laid waste for the sake of a single point.
"Graaaah!"
The moment Myeong-ha began forming the spiritual vein, the Yao of the Heukgyo Water Territory, as well as those from neighboring waters, immediately sensed the anomaly and rushed toward the Heukgyo Water Territory.
This was entirely different from when the Heumwon Clan had established a spiritual vein in the Seongya Archipelago. Back then, the Heumwon Clan had cleared the area beforehand, and above all, the prestige of the Yojeong faction was so immense that it seemed to pierce the heavens. Even if anyone harbored grievances, none dared to raise their heads.
But this time was different. The event occurred without any warning. Although they knew the terrifying Black Dragon resided in the Heukgyo Water Territory, they could not tolerate such an act of tyranny.
Stripping the earth of its spiritual energy was a direct threat to the lives of Great Yo-beasts like them. Driven by a sense of crisis, coupled with their naturally ferocious and violent instincts, they swarmed toward the Heukgyo Water Territory without regard for the consequences.
As expected, they are coming. Myeong-ha waited for them with a smile.
His decision to act without warning was partly to avoid interference from the Black Cult Palace, but it was also calculated to provoke this exact violent reaction from the neighboring Great Yo-beasts.
To him, these early-to-mid stage Great Yao were not obstacles, but gifts. Since the insatiable Evil God constantly hounded him, he planned to offer up the flesh and souls of these Great Yao to temporarily appease the entity's hunger.
From the center of the raging storm of spiritual energy, Myeong-ha cast out a vast, invisible web. In less than half a day, the intangible web expanded to cover an area dozens of times larger than Haeyeon Island, beginning to ensnare the frenzied Great Yao as they rushed blindly forward.
"...Afterward, Gyeongwang Palace intervened, but it appears there was no actual clash. It is suspected that some secret pact was made between the Jansu Whale King and the Ghost Spider."
Having opened his eyes after a month of meditation, Jekyeong frowned as he listened to Hyeongu's report. He had known that Myeong-ha's creation of a spiritual vein would cause a stir, but he hadn't expected him to make such a massive, chaotic spectacle of it. He couldn't decide whether to call it bold or cunning.
The reaction of Gyeongwang Palace and the Jansu Whale King was exactly as expected. Jekyeong had reasoned that the Whale King would never clash with an unknown Core Formation powerhouse for the sake of Great Yao who weren't even his direct subordinates. Sure enough, the Whale King had merely gone through the motions before backing down.
Myeong-ha had undoubtedly put his silver tongue to use, but if the Jansu Whale King had possessed any genuine intention of taking action, no amount of sweet talk would have swayed him. Jekyeong let out an involuntary sigh.
The Jansu Whale King... He is remarkably consistent.
The more Jekyeong learned about the Jansu Whale King, the more he felt the beast was better suited to the Human Race than the Yao. He was the exact type who would have thrived cultivating in a prestigious human sect—avoiding conflict, staring at a wall, and silently pursuing his path in absolute isolation.