Crossing the Threshold
It was pitiful, but still far better than before. Back when Jekyeong couldn't control the heat of his Spirit Seed and suffered from the heat himself, the water around him would boil, and fish would cook instantly whenever he passed nearby.
'I wondered if there was no way... but I really didn't expect this.'
Jekyeong had constantly contemplated and observed the heat issue of his Spirit Seed, even asking senior cultivators at the Mansi Assembly, but he had found no proper answer. He had been on the verge of giving up, but then the unexpected happened.
Just like before, the time for molting arrived. Having anticipated it, Jekyeong skillfully endured the pain and completed the shedding. But afterward, he realized he no longer felt that dreadful heat.
It wasn't that the Spirit Seed had withered or the body heat had vanished. His post-shedding body had adapted—or rather, evolved—to be more compatible with the Spirit Seed. It was an unexpected stroke of luck, a pure joy.
For a moment, Jekyeong wondered if he might not be an ordinary snake, but he quickly dismissed such hopeful doubts.
'Just looking at that snake who was my parent tells me everything. There is nothing special in my bloodline. But just because I wasn't born special doesn't mean I can't become special.'
Jekyeong figured his bloodline had mutated to some extent after he became a Yo-beast and went through various trials. Even the shedding itself—his first shed didn't have such miraculous effects. As he grew and changed, various benefits began to attach to his molting process.
'Once I cross the threshold of a Great Yo-beast, things will change again.'
On the other hand, having grown steadily and undergone another shedding recently, Jekyeong finally crossed the wall that had blocked him for several years. In terms of human cultivation realms, he had entered the Late Qi Condensation stage.
Though it was just a single minor realm breakthrough, Jekyeong could clearly feel his power had increased. He felt that now, even if he fought the masters of the territories head-on, he wouldn't be pushed back. This wasn't arrogance; it was a conservative estimate. If it were a pure physical brawl, Jekyeong was confident he could defeat any of the territory masters he had seen.
'As expected, crossing the wall doesn't grant me abilities I didn't have before.'
Though he knew the chances were slim, he had secretly hoped for some special ability upon breaking through. He didn't even expect water manipulation like the catfish that previously ruled the Spiritual Spring; just any decent, usable ability would have been nice. But even that was too high an expectation.
'No, strictly speaking, I do have an ability.'
And what was that ability? Getting hot. A very simple ability that only required drawing out the spiritual energy of the Spirit Seed... but of course, it had absolutely no practical use. Still, Jekyeong believed this humble ability would eventually become useful. It wasn't baseless faith; he had his reasons. If it was an ability manifested by drawing out the energy of the Spirit Seed, wouldn't the ability grow stronger as the Spirit Seed grew larger and more powerful?
Rustle—
While moving lost in thought, a hurried rustling caught Jekyeong's attention. Looking closer, it was a Water Beast that resembled a stingray but had six tails, frantically flapping its long wings like a fly as it fled in a hurry.
It was obvious what the creature was fleeing from.
'Hmph.'
Glancing at the creature, which kept looking back to see if it was being followed, Jekyeong headed back toward the surface. No Water Beast blocked his path, and none failed to flee upon seeing him.
After crossing the wall, Jekyeong had become the master of the Spiritual Spring in the truest sense. However, unlike the catfish, he did not monopolize the Spiritual Spring; he gave all Water Beasts the freedom to come and go.
But nothing in the world comes entirely free. Instead of giving the Water Beasts freedom to roam the Spiritual Spring, Jekyeong occasionally hunted them as payment. It was, so to speak, a tax, and fortunately, no one complained.
"Here."
Having hunted a suitable Water Beast on his way out of the water, Jekyeong handed it over to Muk-su as usual and received two Spiritual Fruits in return.
"Everything quiet?"
It was a question he asked every time they met, but it wasn't just empty small talk. For the past few years, this question had become a necessity.
Woo-woo—
"Good to hear."
Ever since Jekyeong and Cheon-go stole the Fire Crystal, there had rarely been a quiet day in this area, and tension always hung in the air. This was because the master of the territory who had been robbed—a Yo-beast resembling a hippopotamus—often ventured out of its own territory to vent its rage.
'It's a relief it hasn't stormed over here.'
Because of the vast distance between the hippo's territory and Jekyeong's Spiritual Spring, with several other territories lying in between, Jekyeong didn't have to experience the wrath of the rampaging hippo. The other territory masters would obviously not stand by and watch their domains be invaded, so no matter how furious the hippo was, it couldn't run amok completely as it pleased.
According to Cheon-go, a few times the hippo truly couldn't control its temper and rammed into other territory masters, but in the end, it had to huff and puff back to its own domain.
At any rate, because that hippo had caused such a massive ruckus, the atmosphere in this region had been grim for several years. And since that grimness still lingered, Jekyeong constantly advised Muk-su and Cheon-go to be careful. While the hippo wouldn't dare come here, wanderers provoked by the commotion could show up at any time.
Though he previously had no choice due to his body heat, even after his shedding Jekyeong continued to stay in the Spiritual Spring and avoided going outside as much as possible for that very reason. It wasn't that he feared those drifters, but there was no need to get needlessly swept up in trouble. There was plenty of easy prey to hunt in the water, after all.
"Where's Cheon-go?"
Woo-woo—
"You don't know?"
After learning that the hippo was poking around everywhere, Cheon-go had become much more cautious and rarely traveled far. Even when it hunted, it stayed near the Spiritual Spring. Yet it had left without even telling Muk-su where it was going?
'Strange. Surely it isn't being chased by some foul-tempered spiritual bird somewhere?'
He doubted the highly cautious bird would get into such a mess, but one could never be sure, so he felt a prickle of worry. Normally, he would have just exchanged the prey for Spiritual Fruits and returned to the water, but this time, concerned about Cheon-go, he lingered a bit longer.
How much time had passed? Just as the bright sky began to dim, Cheon-go flew in, looking visibly frantic.
"Disaster! Disaster! Jekyeong! Muk-su! It's a disaster!"
Jekyeong, who had been dozing coiled up next to Muk-su, quickly raised his head.
"What is it?"
Jekyeong was already uneasy, so his voice carried a sharp edge. He was used to Cheon-go's fussing, but the bird's current reaction was far worse than ever before. What on earth was it? What could possibly trigger such a reaction? An intuitive, instinctive feeling—a warning bell—rang in his mind.
"A monster! A monster is coming!"
"A monster? What kind of monster?"
"I don't know. It's terrifying... It feels terrifying, just like those guys from before."
"Those guys?"
"The ones who devoured the Seonins! It feels just like them!"
Jekyeong was about to demand what on earth it was talking about, but seeing that Cheon-go looked half-crazed with fear, he swallowed his words and set his mind to work.
'A Great Yo-beast? Or a Foundation Establishment cultivator?'
Given that Cheon-go, who had seen territory masters and all kinds of Yo-beasts, was calling this thing a monster and trembling in absolute terror, the approaching entity had to be at least at that level. But why was such a being coming here? And where exactly was it heading?
'No, that's not what's important right now.'
Should he flee? If it was a human cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage with Divine Sense, let alone a Great Yo-beast, their detection capabilities could not be underestimated. Could he hide in the Spiritual Spring and conceal his presence with the Presence-Concealing Technique? But if he did, what about Cheon-go and Muk-su?
While his mind raced with complex calculations, Jekyeong suddenly snapped his head up as he sensed something.
'That is...'
Far in the distance, a powerful presence loomed like a mountain. And that presence was drawing closer and growing more intense by the second.
In the Sangyo Forest, the wolf Yo-beast that had once clashed with Jekyeong was currently suffering from an immense internal conflict. Its instincts screamed at it to immediately lower its tail and roll over onto its belly. But its memory of ruling this forest as its master for so long, and the pride born from it, urged it to maintain its stance—to bare its fangs, growl, and protect its dignity.
"Even if you cannot speak my tongue, you should understand the meaning of my words. I will not repeat myself. Follow."
It was a calm, quiet sentence, yet upon hearing it, the wolf Yo-beast's eyes became bloodshot, and its four legs, bent pitifully, trembled violently. The sight of a proud territory master trembling in terror like a mutt before its natural predator was more pathetic than amusing.
If the other territory masters who had once fought bloodily with this wolf Yo-beast saw this, would they have laughed? No. They would have been the same. They, too, would have rolled their eyes in anxious terror, not knowing what to do. Perhaps they would have even wet themselves.
This was an inevitable, natural reaction. Oppression based on the hierarchy of cultivation applied to all races, but among the Beast Race—especially Yo-beasts—it was far more severe. Even if a superior did not harbor hostility or intentionally oppress them, they would still end up mentally exhausted and groveling, just like this wolf Yo-beast.
In a brief span of less than a few seconds, the wolf Yo-beast swayed and stumbled repeatedly. Eventually, it powerlessly bowed its head.
Boom!
There was no time to properly deliberate whether to run, hide, or do something else. While Jekyeong hesitated for a brief moment, the mountain-like presence had already loomed over his head, and the moment Jekyeong widened his eyes, the ground shook with a deafening roar.
Jekyeong saw a massive figure that had crashed before him like a meteor.
"He is massive."
These words were spoken not by him, but by the Great Yo-beast that had landed before him. Yes, the entity that had appeared before him was a Great Yo-beast. There was no need to analyze it; he could recognize it naturally at a single glance.
It resembled a lion overall, but instead of a mane, it had a thick layer of what was hard to distinguish as either hide or carapace, and it had two heads. Both heads were looking up at Jekyeong, each bearing a different expression.
"It looks like a snake, but is it really a snake?"
"An ordinary snake doesn't grow this large."
"Fool. Does this look like an ordinary snake to you? It's a Yo-beast."
"You're the fool. Do you think I don't know that? Keep in mind that what you know, I know, and what you see, I see just the same."
The lion's two heads began bickering with each other. They shouted back and forth, eventually baring their fangs as if ready to bite each other. It was like a comedy act, but Jekyeong couldn't let his guard down in the slightest.
"That crow. It's the one that fled earlier."
"That one is a Wood Yao. Fascinating. Have three different kinds of beasts set up house together?"
Cheon-go, who was holding its breath while perched on Muk-su's branch, trembled violently under the gaze of one of the heads. Muk-su was also visibly tense, unlike its usual self; its branches and roots, which usually swayed slightly according to its mood, had stiffened like a real, inanimate tree.
"Something is different about him."
"Yes. He's different from the others. His eyes are cunning. It means he can definitely understand our words. Just like that crow, and this snake too."
"Indeed. And this snake doesn't seem particularly intimidated either."
"Oh, you're right. What a peculiar fellow."
Jekyeong inwardly sighed and lowered his body. The two-headed lion was massive, but it was definitely smaller than Jekyeong, who exceeded forty meters in length. If Jekyeong didn't lower himself, he would constantly be looking down on the beast. Although this Great Yo-beast didn't seem to mind such things, Jekyeong couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.
"I am called Jekyeong."
To ordinary ears, Jekyeong's words would sound like nothing more than a snake's hissing. Until now, only Cheon-go had been able to properly understand his speech. However, just as Jekyeong suspected, this two-headed Great Yo-beast understood his words immediately.
"Jekyeong?"
"Must be his name."
"A Yo-beast with a name?"