The Price of Arrogance
"Of course it should be. It's inconvenient as hell being blind."
Although the thick steam made it difficult to secure a clear line of sight, there was no risk of losing his way or taking a misstep just because he couldn't see. A Great Yo-beast's Spiritual Perception conveyed far more information than mere eyes ever could. Humans and beasts alike were simply accustomed to the convenience of sight; in truth, physical vision possessed not a single advantage over spiritual awareness.
"Is it still hiding in the water?"
"Must be."
Sagaewan was brimming with confidence. His only concern was that he might accidentally injure the serpent too severely, ruining its potential to become his third head. The possibility of losing the serpent—let alone getting hurt himself—never even crossed his mind.
"Should we go into the water?"
"That would be best. If we thrash around blindly and ruin the head, it'll be a disaster."
"True. It's been a while since we found such a desirable head. We can't afford to spoil it."
"Just make sure we don't make any mistakes."
Both of his heads flicked their tongues in unison, saliva dripping from their jaws.
"Growing a third head is all well and good, but won't things get a bit cramped for us?"
"We can just make it a bit smaller."
"That works, but I'd rather our body just grew larger. Then it wouldn't matter if we had three heads or four."
"It will happen soon enough. Once we acquire more wisdom, that is. Perhaps even the Yao King realm won't be a mere dream."
More drool pooled and dripped from their twin maws.
"Is the bastard recovering his body in the Spiritual Spring?"
"But what is this steam? Is he trying to lure us into the water?"
"Most likely. He seems to be a type of Water Beast, so he must think he has the advantage underwater."
"Arrogant fool."
Whether human or beast, the most vital virtue for any cultivator walking the Daoist path is vigilance. And the very first target of that vigilance must be oneself—specifically, one's own arrogance. There was nothing more dangerous than the illusion that one was uniquely special. Those who failed to realize this rarely lived long lives.
"I'll suppress my breath, so you look for him."
"A simple task."
Sagaewan slowly sank into the water, completely masking his presence. The very first technique Sagaewan had mastered after becoming a Great Yo-beast and settling in the Sangyo Forest was this exact method of concealing his breath. By lowering his presence, he could disarm his enemy's vigilance. His twin heads believed this trick to be far superior to any destructive Divine Ability. If his body had been as colossally conspicuous as that idiot Yung-won, such a technique would have been useless. Fortunately, his build was relatively small for a Great Yo-beast.
"Strange. Even after entering the water, I can't sense his aura at all."
"How can this be?"
"Could he be dead?"
"Impossible. If he were dead, that crow wouldn't have risked his life to deceive us."
Sagaewan fell into confusion as the situation defied his expectations. His two heads bickered back and forth, exchanging theories as they tried to locate the missing serpent. They remained utterly oblivious to the fact that the serpent had already slipped behind them. Just as Jekyeong's gaping maw silently closed in on Sagaewan's tail, the beast spun around with lightning speed, spewing a thick green toxic mist from both mouths.
Jekyeong had no idea what Sagaewan's abilities were. His decision to recklessly engage in close-quarters combat without knowing his opponent's powers wasn't a blind gamble; he simply had no other choice. Fortunately, luck was on his side. He hadn't expected a creature resembling a lion to spit poison. When it came to poison, Jekyeong possessed a fair bit of confidence—not because he could wield it, but because he was exceptionally good at enduring it.
Boom!
Jekyeong had intended to crush the beast in a single bite, but Sagaewan's reaction was unexpectedly swift. Snapping his jaws shut on empty air, Jekyeong quickly whipped his head around, delivering a brutal headbutt directly to one of Sagaewan's heads. Sagaewan failed to react to this follow-up and took the full force of the blow.
"Kegh!"
The struck head let out a choked gasp, its eyes rolling back in a daze. Jekyeong felt a dull throb of pain, but it was entirely manageable. This was partly because Jekyeong's head was absurdly sturdy for a Yo-beast, but more so because Sagaewan's physical condition was already in a disastrous state. Had the beast been at full strength, a single headbutt—even a surprise one—would never have left him so thoroughly dazed.
Jekyeong neither knew nor cared about his opponent's underlying circumstances. Having landed a clean hit, he sought to press his advantage and overwhelm Sagaewan. However, before he could close the distance again, Sagaewan retreated with startling speed. Jekyeong hadn't anticipated the beast could move so quickly underwater; it was a slight miscalculation.
'No, wait. Is that really it? Perhaps this is him being slowed down by the water.'
For a Great Yo-beast, there might be little difference between land and water. If anything, the only reason Sagaewan was affected at all was because this wasn't an ordinary river, but a Spiritual Spring rich with dense energy.
"Roaaar!"
Sagaewan unleashed a furious roar. However, his head was aimed slightly to the left of where Jekyeong actually stood. Jekyeong watched in brief confusion before noticing that the roaring head's eyes were covered in hideous, jagged scars. Instantly, he understood.
'He doesn't know where I am.'
The beast had a rough idea, but he clearly couldn't pinpoint Jekyeong's exact location. Deprived of sight, he had to rely entirely on his Spiritual Perception. But since Jekyeong was constantly maintaining his Presence-Concealing Technique, Sagaewan's spiritual senses must feel as though they were shrouded in a thick fog. Still, Jekyeong found it slightly odd that a Great Yo-beast would struggle this much, but he chalked it up to Sagaewan's battered condition. While caution was necessary, overanalyzing and hesitating at every turn would yield nothing.
'Good. I'll finish this before his other head regains its senses.'
No matter how battered he seemed, Sagaewan was still an experienced Great Yo-beast. Who knew what other bizarre abilities he might possess besides spitting poison? Having seized the upper hand through sheer luck, Jekyeong could not afford to let this momentum slip away. Steeling his resolve, Jekyeong casually glided toward Sagaewan, completely exposing himself. To an onlooker, it would seem as though he wasn't trying to attack at all, but merely passing by. It was easy to dismiss this as a simple bluff, but such a nonchalant act was incredibly difficult to pull off. Erasing the murderous intent already rooted in one's heart and masking all hostility required absolute control over one's mind—even if only for a fleeting second.
Jekyeong had succeeded, yet it remained a perilous gamble. If Sagaewan's Spiritual Perception had been sharp enough to detect even the slightest ripple in Jekyeong's Mind State, this defenseless approach would have been equivalent to handing his neck to the enemy. Fortunately, Sagaewan remained oblivious to his approach. Though the beast bared his fangs in a defensive posture, he was still facing the wrong direction.
'Now!'
Jekyeong lunged. Sagaewan reacted instantly. No matter how profound Jekyeong's mastery of the Presence-Concealing Technique was, it was impossible to suppress his intent the exact moment he committed to an attack. Jekyeong had expected a reaction, but the beast's movement was far faster than he had anticipated.
Chomp!
Sagaewan evaded Jekyeong's massive jaws and sank his teeth deep into Jekyeong's neck instead. Even watching it happen, the reaction speed was unbelievably fast.
"Grrr!"
A triumphant growl rumbled from the beast. Jekyeong felt a virulent poison seeping into his body through Sagaewan's fangs. It wasn't immediately life-threatening, but there was no telling what would happen if he allowed Sagaewan to keep pumping venom into him.
'Fool.'
Sneering at the triumphant beast, Jekyeong whipped his long tail around. His elongated body coiled tightly around Sagaewan. Sagaewan flinched slightly as the coils constricted, but he refused to let go, likely believing his deadly venom would take effect any moment now.
"Pffft!"
Sagaewan snorted, clamping his jaws even tighter as if to crush Jekyeong's windpipe once and for all. Was he really that confident in his poison? Or did he simply look down on Jekyeong, thinking a mere Yo-beast's strength amounted to nothing? If so, his logic wasn't entirely flawed. Regardless of physical size, he was a Great Yo-beast, while Jekyeong was a mere Yo-beast. A gap in cultivation realms was not something that could be bridged by raw physical strength alone. Jekyeong knew this fact all too well. But what he relied on was not physical strength, but the new ability he had acquired just moments ago.
Whoosh!
An intangible flame, born from Jekyeong's very Spiritual Nature, instantly enveloped his massive, elongated body. Though only the heat was transmitted through the water, it was enough to make the surrounding river boil instantly.
Sssss!
Sagaewan, bound tightly like a prisoner wrapped in thick ropes, was exposed directly to the searing heat. He hadn't even blinked at the crushing force of Jekyeong's coils, but this heat made his entire body shudder. This was no ordinary fire; it was a heat generated directly from Jekyeong's Spiritual Nature. Had Sagaewan's body and soul been intact, allowing him to freely wield his Demonic Power, he could have endured this with a yawn. But he was in no such condition. Ultimately, Sagaewan was forced to endure the spiritual flames—or rather, the raw heat—with his bare, unprotected flesh. The consequences were devastating.
"Aaaaargh!"
Unbeknownst to Jekyeong, the real nightmare for Sagaewan wasn't the heat searing his flesh, but Jekyeong's blood flowing down his throat. It was blood saturated with Jekyeong's potent Qi and Blood and his burning Spiritual Nature. Boiling like molten lava, the blood scorched Sagaewan's mouth, melted his throat, and dissolved his internal organs. He could neither stop swallowing it nor spit it out, as his tongue had already fused to Jekyeong's scales. Only then did Sagaewan desperately try to pull away, but it was already too late.
"W-What is this?!"
Just then, Sagaewan's unconscious head snapped awake. It gasped in horror at the searing pain consuming its body, and the sight of its twin head, whose already hideous face was now melting into something far more grotesque.
"Roaaar!"
The Great Yo-beast's fury erupted. Without taking a moment to assess the situation, the newly awakened head lashed out in a blind, emotional rage, sinking its fangs deep into Jekyeong's exposed neck. Suddenly finding his neck bitten from both sides, Jekyeong groaned in pain—but a wide grin spread across his face.
'Idiot.'
Did having two heads make him twice as stupid? To think a Great Yo-beast could be this foolish. Regardless, this turn of events couldn't be better. Jekyeong squeezed every drop of power from his already blazing Spiritual Nature. The sound of sizzling flesh and Sagaewan's agonized shrieks grew even more intense.
After what felt like an eternity, Jekyeong let out a weary groan and uncoiled his body. Even with his flesh charred to a crisp and his internal organs melted away, Sagaewan was still breathing. His soul had not yet dissipated. Considering the beast had been practically a walking corpse when he first entered the water, his tenacity was beyond stubborn—it was downright terrifying.
Drawing upon the power of one's Spiritual Nature was akin to human cultivators channeling their spiritual energy. Naturally, there was a limit to how much power could be exerted, and Jekyeong was reaching his. When Sagaewan had practically walked into his fiery trap, Jekyeong had assumed finishing him off would be simple. He had never imagined a Great Yo-beast's life force could be so monstrously resilient.
With his Spiritual Nature running dry, Jekyeong had no choice but to begin tearing Sagaewan apart, bite by bite. Fearing that the charred beast might suddenly lash out in a final, desperate struggle, Jekyeong made sure to sever both necks first. There was no resistance. As expected, the beast was in no condition to fight back. As Jekyeong tore through the twin necks, he realized Sagaewan's body had been far more damaged than he initially thought. Even when he finally snuffed out the beast's life, there wasn't even a faint ripple of Dharma Power. To put it simply, Sagaewan had been so utterly depleted of energy that he couldn't even muster a dying gasp. To pursue an enemy in such a state—Jekyeong didn't know whether to call it admirable or sheer stupidity.
Some might mock Sagaewan's recklessness, but Jekyeong understood him. To Sagaewan, Jekyeong must have seemed like just another Water Beast of the Spiritual Spring—an easy prey to be hunted at his leisure. Such an assumption couldn't even be called arrogance. After all, Sagaewan was a Great Yo-beast, while Jekyeong was a mere Yo-beast. But regardless of whether his reasoning was sound, the outcome remained the same. In the end, it was Sagaewan's own carelessness and folly that had driven him to his grave.
'Nothing worth keeping.'
After delivering the killing blow and forcing down Sagaewan's charred flesh, Jekyeong was deeply disappointed. Despite being a Great Yo-beast, eating him felt no different from consuming ordinary Yo-beast meat. There was no surge in his Qi and Blood, nor any stimulation to his Spiritual Nature. Still, hoping there might be some small scrap of value left, Jekyeong continued to stuff the charcoal-like flesh down his throat. It was only when he spotted one of the severed heads lying on the riverbed and swallowed it whole that he finally felt a change.
It was a thread of Demonic Power. It was so incredibly faint and fleeting that he almost dismissed it as an illusion, but in that brief instant, Jekyeong was seized by a profound wave of inspiration.
"Ah...!"
That thread of power was undoubtedly the crystallization of the Daoist cultivation Sagaewan had accumulated throughout his entire life. Walking the Dao was not limited to sitting in some quiet, secluded spot, sipping morning dew, and meditating in asceticism. A Yo-beast's life—struggling fiercely from birth to death—was a Dao in its own right. And Sagaewan had been a Great Yo-beast. The inspiration Jekyeong drew from that single thread of Demonic Power left in Sagaewan's head was far greater than anything he had ever felt while being buffeted by the waves of Dharma Power and demonic energy on the battlefield.
Now, he finally understood what Demonic Power truly was—the unique force forged by refining one's own Spiritual Energy. This realization was a far more precious harvest than any simple increase in his Qi and Blood or expansion of his Spiritual Nature. Savoring the breakthrough in his comprehension, Jekyeong slowly chewed and swallowed the remaining head.
The Great Yao realm. Yangseo Lake.
'If it's now, perhaps...'
For a moment, his heart wavered with temptation, but he managed to suppress it. Breaking through to a new realm was never an easy task. Looking back to when he first became a Yo-beast, he remembered that a powerful instinct was always followed by an absolute, undeniable certainty.