The Harvester, Part 3
Dang Sobaek frowned.
He had barely managed to seal the core of the Black-Scaled Blood Python and catch his breath, but now...
What is this?
He felt powerful energies clashing violently on the other side of the island. His anxiety deepened.
Of all the creatures he had encountered so far, he had never seen any entity stronger than Mother Jimjo.
"Pyah? Pyak?"
Seeing Sobaek's grim expression, Jim-i tilted her head and hopped closer, as if asking if he was alright.
Just as she began to brush his back with her wing,
Flash—!
Once again, the world flickered.
Startled, Jim-i tumbled backward onto her back. Leaving his flailing sister behind, Sobaek made his way toward the cave exit.
Staying cooped up here would yield no answers.
He crept cautiously toward the mouth of the cave. He heard Jim-i grumbling behind him, but he had no time to pay attention to her.
At the very edge of the cliff leading into the cave entrance,
a bizarre thread of golden light was unfurling.
It drifted like a scattered constellation, embroidering the world.
It was a dreamlike, ethereal sight.
Moving as if it were alive, it shifted and warped into different shapes, like lines drawn on a canvas. In a way, it looked like a blooming flower being embroidered in real-time.
"Pyahhh?"
Having scrambled back onto her feet, Jim-i trotted over to Sobaek. Intrigued by the mysterious golden thread, she reached out a wing to touch it.
Smack!
Sobaek slapped her wing away with a sharp flick. Jim-i glared at him, her eyes filled with a mix of confusion and annoyance.
"Pyak!"
But he had no choice. There were far too many suspicious things at play.
Sobaek nudged Jim-i behind him and examined the golden thread more closely.
On the surface, there seemed to be no immediate danger. It showed no overt hostility.
However...
It is dangerous.
There was no telling what would happen if they were lured in by its dazzling appearance. After all, was it not the nature of venomous beasts to be brightly colored to attract prey?
Furthermore, the timing of the golden thread's appearance was too precise to be a mere coincidence. It had manifested right after the thunderous roar in the heavens and the clash of colossal forces.
There was nothing more foolish than rashly approaching the unknown.
Sobaek reached this conclusion drawing from his vast experience, wisdom,
and the memories of his past life.
Sobaek fell deep into thought as he stared at the golden thread unfurling before him.
It is a type of power I have never seen before. It does not seem to contain any Qi... I cannot fathom its underlying principles. It feels almost like a soul.
His inability to identify it was incredibly frustrating, and no solution came to mind.
Fortunately, for some reason, the golden thread seemed unable to penetrate the interior of the cave.
Sobaek pondered the reason behind this restriction over and over, until a sudden realization struck him.
Could it be?
A forgotten detail flashed through his mind.
The answer lay in the geography of this place. It was a naturally formed Qimen Array.
Ah, so that is what it was.
Sobaek searched his memories.
He could not be absolutely certain since he had not examined it thoroughly, but the array here was of the same lineage as the Illusion Dream Array, which operated on the principles of the Eight Trigrams. Unless one found the "gate," entry was utterly impossible.
However, because the array was incomplete, it would not take very long for an intruder to locate the entrance.
Judging by the situation, the golden thread had no intention of leaving. It continued to linger around the perimeter.
Beside him, Jim-i chirped happily, staring intently at the golden thread with an innocent expression.
"Ooh?"
She even let out human-like gasps of admiration whenever the golden threads shifted and bloomed into new patterns.
It was utterly absurd.
Sobaek shook his throbbing head and racked his brain.
Is there a way to reinforce the array right now?
The golden thread was gradually drawing closer. If it managed to locate them, there was no telling what disaster would unfold.
No, let us think differently. There is absolutely no way for me to perfectly complete a naturally formed array on the spot. In that case...
He simply needed to force the array into a functional shape, even if only temporarily.
Instead of relying on the principles of the Eight Trigrams,
Sobaek decided to modify it into the Tang Clan's Death Poison Array.
This was possible for a simple reason: the original blueprint of the Death Poison Array was derived from the Illusion Dream Array.
The Tang Clan's Death Poison Array was a vicious formation that possessed no "Gate of Life."
Once activated, the entire area would transform into a wasteland of death, making escape impossible.
In other words, entering from the outside was equally impossible.
It was a state of absolute isolation from the outside world.
Consequently, throughout the long history of the Tang Clan, the Death Poison Array had been deployed only a handful of times.
It was an array reserved for moments of near-extinction, relying solely on the Tang Clan's innate immunity to poison to survive its effects.
But...
We possess more than enough resistance to poison, so it should not be an issue.
As Zhenbirds, they would easily withstand it.
From what he could recall, the only element lacking from the Eight Trigrams was Dui, which represented the lake. Therefore, Sobaek planned to turn a portion of this cave into a pool of poison.
Of course, this method was far from perfect. He did not even know if it would work. Even as the former patriarch of the Tang Clan, Sobaek had never actually deployed the Death Poison Array in a real combat scenario.
Please.
He could only pray that it would function properly.
Even if it succeeded, the array would collapse before long. It was, after all, nothing more than a temporary stopgap.
Still, it should hold for about a day.
The only problem was how to create the pool of poison. His poison crystals were solid, so they were useless for this purpose.
If Jim-sam had been here, Sobaek could have substituted it with poison mist, but his brother had already departed.
Can I pull this off?
Now that his poison sac had fused into a Dokyodan, he felt he might be able to mix his poison with demonic energy and disperse it into the air.
He just needed to slightly alter the properties of his energy.
Sssssss—
Sobaek slowly began to exude poison from his body.
This process contained neither the martial arts nor the principles of the Tang Clan. It was pure, unadulterated poison blending with the atmosphere.
A thick, deep green mist began to flood the interior of Sobaek's nest.
The incomplete Illusion Dream Array slowly shifted into the Death Poison Array.
The incomplete Illusion Dream Array has been successfully modified. The Gate of Life is sealed, isolating the interior from all external intrusion with a barrier of lethal poison.
At that moment,
Hmm.
the golden thread hovering around the perimeter began to recede. It seemed to have concluded that there was no path forward.
I wonder what would have happened if I had attacked it.
Since it appeared to possess some physical properties, Sobaek's demonic energy might have neutralized it if he had fired a concentrated blast.
Of course, because the golden thread itself was an enigma, there was no need to take unnecessary risks.
The moment he laid eyes on it, Mother Jimjo's warnings had echoed in his mind, and his instincts had recoiled. That was why he had chosen this course of action.
Though he had many questions, it was impossible to deduce the truth from inside this cave.
Still, this is a bit strange.
Even if he had completed the Death Poison Array as a temporary measure, it made little sense for the thread to give up and retreat so suddenly.
After the array was activated, it took about a quarter of an hour for the gates to seal completely.
Perhaps it had already been on the verge of giving up after failing to find the entrance for so long.
Otherwise, the current situation was difficult to explain.
We were lucky this time.
Just then, Sobaek spotted a white deer standing atop the cliff, looking down at them. Feeling a strange, heavy sensation in his chest, he stared back at it blankly.
Soon, the deer turned around and vanished into the distance.
Sobaek let out a long sigh and led Jim-i deeper into the cave. Jim-i looked back at the spot where the golden thread had been, clearly reluctant to leave, but...
Rumble—!!!
...at the sudden crash of thunder that followed, she quietly fell in line behind him.
Why had thunder and lightning suddenly torn through the sky, followed by such a strange phenomenon? What was that clash of immense power?
Though he had many questions, it was impossible to deduce the truth from inside this cave.
Suddenly, Sobaek flinched.
A force of an entirely different caliber from anything they had felt before erupted from the other side of the island. Beside him, Jim-i cowered and pressed herself tightly against Sobaek.
Something truly catastrophic was unfolding.
On her way back to the nest, Mother Jimjo encountered a Divine Sense that blanketed the entire island.
Spreading out as densely as a spider's web, its sheer scale was truly overwhelming.
While Mother Jimjo could also project her Divine Sense, searching such a vast area was far beyond her capabilities. It meant a human cultivator of unfathomable power had arrived on the island.
She had been mentally preparing herself for this day. For a very, very long time.
It was bound to happen eventually.
Yet, she had never expected it to happen so soon.
However, she had a place in mind.
A secret sanctuary of her own that even Divine Sense could not penetrate.
It was not very far from her fourth chick's nest. Since she could still watch over her young depending on the circumstances, it was her best option.
Mother Jimjo performed acrobatic maneuvers, weaving through the gaps in the sweeping Divine Sense as she flew forward.
Boom—!!
Explosions continued to rock various parts of the island, and the spiritual energy of the demonic beasts was rapidly fading.
In particular, the presences of the territory lords and those close to becoming great demonic beasts had vanished entirely.
It felt as though she was the sole survivor.
A bitter pang of sorrow welled up in her chest. But she quickly steeled her resolve. She had managed to repel one human cultivator, but that had been pure luck.
There was surely more than one human on the island. Throwing herself forward recklessly would only result in death. She suppressed her emotions, sharpening her cold, calculating reason.
Mother Jimjo heightened her senses and concealed her demonic energy as much as possible as she moved.
As she neared her sanctuary,
she spotted an unfamiliar creature.
It was a white deer.
Strangely, the sight of it felt familiar. A profound sense of déjà vu washed over her.
It did not seem to be a demonic beast or a spiritual beast, yet it exuded an extraordinarily divine aura.
The area lay beyond Mother Jimjo's usual territory.
It was a region dominated by the Underworld Mountain, a place teeming with ghostly energy where ordinary beasts—and even most demonic beasts—struggled to survive.
The white deer stared intently at Mother Jimjo, as if beckoning her to follow.
It was where she had intended to go anyway.
The sanctuary she had chosen was located deep within the Underworld Mountain.
Just then, the sky flashed.
It was completely enveloped in a brilliant golden radiance.
The reach of the Divine Sense had expanded even further.
She saw a thread of that Divine Sense stretching toward her fourth chick's nest.
If her young, who had not even fully matured, were detected by the human, their deaths would be certain.
While she was momentarily distracted by the sweeping Divine Sense,
the white deer vanished, disappearing deep into the Underworld Mountain.
Mother Jimjo stared blankly at the mountain, wondering if there was any way to neutralize the Divine Sense.
She fell into deep contemplation.
Yet, no matter how much she pondered, no solution presented itself.
Even if her strength surpassed that of the human, it was impossible. Divine Sense was structured such that any clash of forces would immediately alert the caster.
But there was one way.
A single method to stop the Divine Sense heading toward her fourth chick's nest.
...
If she offered herself as bait, she could draw their attention away.
Mother Jimjo wavered.
If she survived here, she could plan for the future.
By building upon the power she had recently acquired, continuing her contemplation, and risking her life in cultivation, she would eventually be able to escape this island.
She had finally glimpsed the hope of achieving the lifelong dream she had harbored.
She could always lay more eggs.
Was not "freedom" the value she cherished above all else?
Choosing to stay in the nest was her chicks' choice.
The weak being hunted was the law of nature, the rule of the jungle.
And the survival of the fittest.
But did that...
...apply to the indiscriminate slaughter by humans as well? In the first place, was not every living being on this island living in chains?
This was not a "choice," but a "coercion" carried out under the shackles of "fate." Was it not the very thing she loathed the most?
Mother Jimjo wrestled with these endless contradictions for a long time.
Could turning a blind eye to the Divine Sense truly be considered an act of her own free will?
Even if it were...
...was that truly...
...the right decision?
Was it not...
...merely an "evasion" disguised under the beautiful name of "freedom"?
Her thoughts grew deeper and more refined.
She was thinking at a far higher level than ever before, discerning right from wrong.
Ultimately, Mother Jimjo steeled her resolve and soared into the sky.
She knew.
She knew that if she made herself the bait, she would not escape death.
She knew this was highly irrational,
and that she was throwing away the dream she had cherished her entire life.
Then, a realization dawned on her.
In the distant past.
When humans had invaded the island.
She remembered the day her own mother had thrown her entire body into the fray to save her.
What had her mother been feeling back then?
With what "emotion" and "heart" had she sacrificed her life?
In the end, this irrational choice was merely a repetition of that day.
Only now did Mother Jimjo truly understand her mother's heart.
She knew this was the right path.
The human's Divine Sense spread and bloomed across the empty sky.
Finally, Mother Jimjo dove straight into the center of the human's Divine Sense, overlaying it with her own.
Beneath a sky heavy with dark storm clouds,
two golden Divine Senses intertwined, merging into a single form.
The shape they formed closely resembled a cotton flower.
It was a scene of truly exquisite beauty.