Chapter 525
Chapter 525
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 525
Chapter Title: Building Foundations (4)
As Ha Seung-hoon emerged from the hideout where the Blood Wolf Ghost Killer had been lurking, a woman in her late twenties approached him.
"You're out already, Lord Ha. I hope you're not injured anywhere?"
A stunning beauty with long hair as black as ebony, streaked here and there with unnaturally bleached white strands like deliberate highlights. It was Jegal Hyemi, the pampered jewel of the Jegal family and one of the Dragon's children.
"This is nothing at all. It wasn't even a particularly tough opponent to begin with."
"Mm, but the Blood Wolf Ghost Killer is known as a Hwa Realm master..."
She gave an awkward smile at his nonchalant reply. Of course, after spending quite some time together, she knew full well how capable he was. Still, she couldn't help feeling freshly astonished every time incidents like this repeated themselves.
He seems to be getting even stronger as time passes. At this rate, he might really break through the Hyeon Realm wall before long.
His perfectly composed attire revealed just how one-sided his clash with the Blood Wolf Ghost Killer had been. No, given the short time it took to enter and exit, it probably hadn't even qualified as a proper fight. He'd always been formidable, but not to the extent of dispatching another Hwa Realm master in a blink...
"Sister, honestly. Hasn't big brother always been amazing? Big brother! Here, cool water to quench your thirst."
"Haha, thanks, Soran."
"Ehehe!"
Just then, a lively girl brimming with healthy vigor wedged herself between them. Unlike the demure and soft-spoken Jegal Hyemi, she had her hair tied back in a ponytail for mobility, her big mischievous eyes sparkling. Nangong Soran looked up at him while handing over the water, letting out a bashful giggle.
Well, he more or less held his own against the great yokai Do-ol, so ascending to the Hyeon Realm is just a matter of time.
Convinced, Jegal Hyemi slowly nodded. After taking a few sips of water, Ha Seung-hoon turned to her and spoke.
"More importantly, Miss Jegal, how did the search go? Any luck here?"
"Ah! No... We did find it, but sadly, it's been corrupted for so long that it's unusable. I'm sorry for dragging you on a wild goose chase, Lord Ha."
"Not at all. How could that be your fault? The fact that we can track them at all is thanks to you. I never expected to find a usable one right off the bat."
He soothed the deeply apologetic Jegal Hyemi with a gentle smile. What had started as a journey through the martial world to judge evildoers and restore order had gained one more objective for their group.
Locating a Yeouiju capable of hatching the "Yellow Dragon's Orb."
Without Jegal Hyemi, finding the Yellow Dragon's Yeouiju in this vast land would have been next to impossible. Even if Geum-o Island threw everything into it, there's a limit to uncovering something deliberately hidden.
As one of the Dragon's children, Jegal Hyemi had awakened to a new sense while aiding the hatching of Hwi-ryeong at the Dragon Shrine. Whether due to the aftereffects of that massive ritual, she could now detect the presence of the "Yellow Dragon's Yeouiju" she'd directly encountered, allowing her to track its location.
Thanks to her, Ha Seung-hoon's group—which had forged good ties with Geum-o Island's yokai—received a formal request from their leadership to search for the Yeouiju. They were skeptical that any remained intact after all this time, but with a viable method now available, they couldn't just sit on their hands.
For wanderers roaming the martial world without a fixed destination, there was no reason to turn down Geum-o Island's earnest plea. Not to mention the valuable treasures they'd received upfront as compensation. Of course, that process had also...
"Hey! Ha, you punk! Quit fooling around with the ladies and come grab these! You gonna toss out all this good loot?!"
...led to the addition of one prickly but immensely capable ally. All things considered, it wasn't a bad outcome. Shrugging his shoulders, Ha Seung-hoon turned toward the man trudging back laden with spoils of war.
With that level of firepower added, I won't need to worry about the group's safety when I'm away.
Mok In-gwang, the former Gwangma whose moniker had been usurped by Harley.
His fierce scowl was unchanged, but the markedly softened aura compared to before proved his grueling training hadn't been for naught. Having become a disciple of the Raksha King—one of Geum-o Island's top leaders—he'd joined Ha Seung-hoon's martial excursion on his master's command, to assist with the Yeouiju hunt.
"Why'd you grab so much? I didn't peg you as the type hung up on riches."
"Hmph! Gold's never too plentiful, as they say. It's life's hard truth—listen up, kid. Think 'the more the merrier' came from nowhere?"
As Ha Seung-hoon quipped while stowing the loot in his "Subspace Storage," Mok In-gwang shot back gruffly, sneaking a glance at him and the women behind.
"You, Heavenly Dragon Sword—better get your act together starting now. Unless you wanna end up under the wife's thumb, that is. A family head needs the wealth to feed 'em too. Martial prowess ain't everything!"
Especially when he had two whole women to provide for, both daughters of prestigious clans. Expectations would skyrocket. To avoid regrets later, best to prepare ahead. Mok In-gwang shook his head ruefully at Jegal Hyemi and Nangong Soran, whose faces had flushed upon grasping his point.
Dunno what that fool's scheming from how he acts. But their reactions say they're not totally uninterested... Hm, might not stop at just those two.
Whether oblivious or playing dumb on purpose. Seeing Ha Seung-hoon doggedly maintain that vague stance despite the two beauties openly fawning over him was enough to make anyone click their tongue. Yet today, as ever, Ha Seung-hoon merely shrugged it off.
"No need to fret. I've already stockpiled more than enough."
His personal wealth could fund several major cities from scratch in the middle of nowhere, if he felt like it. He'd ransacked countless organizations in this world, including the Demonic Cult that had nearly devoured it whole.
"Didn't expect Great Hero Mok to be thinking along those lines, though. Got someone special you've got your eye on for starting a family?"
"Just an example, punk! An example! *Ahem*. Well, life's unpredictable—best prep early."
With the site cleared, they made small talk as they set off for the next spot Jegal Hyemi had pinpointed. Bonds forged over the long journey had noticeably softened their interactions compared to first meetings.
"Hmm, no guesses. Someone from Geum-o Island, maybe?"
"Tch, worry about your own mess instead of prying, brat?!"
"Ah? Wait, I think I saw Uncle Mok chatting all friendly with a goblin lady back on Geum-o Island! Pretty sure she was the granddaughter of that Raksha King..."
"S-Soran...! You can't just blurt stuff like that!"
It was a tad exaggerated, but worlds better than lingering stiffness. They'd be traveling together a while longer, regardless.
"Oh ho? So that's the story."
"...You little bigmouth!"
"Eek, big brother! Help!"
"Great Hero Mok! Just calm down a moment..."
In the midst of the boisterous chaos, Ha Seung-hoon—who'd hung back to observe—let out a soft chuckle.
Watching them laugh and banter so carefree melted away the obsessive pressure to power-level as fast as possible.
Phew... yeah. Maybe fixating on pure efficiency and rushing was the wrong call.
For a martial artist chasing the pinnacle of the arts, mentality mattered as much as flesh, energy, and technique. Polishing only the surface without meditative heart-cultivation imposed hard limits on breakthroughs.
...I got it wrong. The main body achieving divinity doesn't make me a complete martial artist. Forgot the fundamentals.
After a steadying breath, he gazed at his comrades anew—especially the two women—with a far lighter heart.
Nangong Soran, dangling by the scruff as Mok In-gwang shook her like a ragdoll; Jegal Hyemi, flailing desperately to placate him. Women who stuck by his side unwaveringly, even as he met their overtures with stoic silence.
"......"
Along with guilt, he tamped down a certain emotion starting to stir.
Still... not now.
No helping it. With urgent tasks piling up and so much demanding his attention, he had no bandwidth for nonessentials. Until the immediate crises were doused, he'd stonewall all outside chatter.
But someday.
Once it was all over. Things might shift then.
Not that everything would magically resolve. He was merely one avatar among many, and the rest had forged their own bonds too.
...Ah, screw it. Future problems for future me. It'll sort itself out.
Brushing aside the swirling worries, he stepped forward with a hearty guffaw. Regardless, he needed to wrangle his current crew first.
"Alright, everyone, simmer down. Long road ahead. Miss Jegal? Let's head for the nearest next target..."
And simultaneously.
Crack—
The sturdy wall blocking Ha Seung-hoon's path began to develop fissures.
*** "Good heavens, what in the world..."
One of Geum-o Island's Five Dragon leaders. The Azure Dragon—a woman with long blue hair neatly coiled atop her head—gaped at the mountain of treasures piled before her.
"Horus, where on earth did you get these?"
She peered down at the blond boy beside her, voicing the疑問 bubbling up from within. The seven-ish-year-old with a baby dragon draped around his neck puffed out his chest all smug-like; cute enough to chomp on the spot. But the treasures arrayed before her were far too precious for such distractions.
"Ahem! This much is a piece of cake!"
[Kyuang!]
At his showboating refusal to elaborate, her eyes shifted forward again. Truth be told, she'd asked on reflex, but the provenance hardly mattered.
Great King Goblin's horn, Vermilion Bird's neidan—that's a kumiho's fox orb, right? The ones looted by Demonic Cultists in the last war. And that's not all: millennial snow ginseng and other spirit medicines, plus divine weapons brimming with power...
Geum-o Island had lost most of its stockpiles in the protracted war following the Beoncheon Society's raid. Unavoidable expenditures aside, the plundered haul had been even worse. Without the energy reserves in Repentance Cave, sustaining the illusory realm would have been a struggle.
To think he'd recovered the very losses from back then.
These riches were a godsend amid the drought. Harnessing the mystic energies within as power sources would elevate them beyond bare-minimum realm maintenance—opening up true possibilities.
Restarting shuttered amenities, carving new passages for yokai to roam the Mid-Lands freely, bolstering defenses... and more.
Above all, the most crucial—
"So? This enough to kick off the Yellow Dragon hatching ritual again?"
[Kyurrr—! Gulp!]
"Yeah, yeah! That's right, Hwi-ryeong. Time to make you a little sibling!"
[Kyak! Kyak!]
—hatching a second Yellow Dragon to follow Hwi-ryeong.
The Azure Dragon steadied her breath as she watched Horus corral the ecstatic Hwi-ryeong cavorting on his shoulder. Excluding the Yeouiju handed over during Horus's recognition as Yellow Dragon, Geum-o Island had possessed exactly two "Yellow Dragon Yeouiju." One had been consumed birthing Hwi-ryeong, leaving just a single one... but now.
This is plenty for hatching a second!
The hunt for additional Yeouiju pressed on unabated. While aiding the Dragon's child who'd helped with Hwi-ryeong, reliable yokai—including dragonkin—had ventured into the human world to track down any traces with utmost diligence.
But there's no telling when we'll find more. Thankfully, that Dragon's child has boosted the odds beyond expectations.
Dragons required ages to mature; for now, they needed to seize what opportunities lay at hand. The Azure Dragon nodded with a faint smile.
"...Good thing I prepped alternatives just in case."
"Ah, really?!"
"Yes, the ritual can begin anytime."
[Kyuang! Kyaaang—!]
The rite demanded a Dragon's child to serve as shamaness, but summoning her posed no issue. Mok In-gwang, disciple of the Raksha King, carried an artifact linking directly to Geum-o Island at any time.
Normally reserved for direst emergencies. This qualified.
Thus, the second Yellow Dragon hatching commenced without much delay. The very next day after Ha Seung-hoon and his group—including Jegal Hyemi—returned to Geum-o Island. At the Dragon Shrine, she reunited with the Five Dragons...
[Neng?]
[Geung— Geung!]
And at long last, the baby Yellow Dragon Hwi-ryeong gained the sibling it had so desperately yearned for.