Reconnaissance, Part I
For reasons unknown, the golden threads that had embroidered the sky evaporated in an instant. Yet Dang Sobaek did not rashly venture outside.
He exercised the utmost caution.
A human.
Though he had not witnessed it with his own eyes, this deduction was well-founded.
The phenomenon was entirely different in nature from the divine abilities of spiritual beasts.
It was a far more systematic, refined power.
While it differed slightly from the martial arts he was familiar with, its origin seemed to be the same.
From everything he had sensed so far, Sobaek inferred one crucial fact:
The golden threads were akin to a type of spell or martial art. And their master was likely the very same individual who had shaken the entire island.
His brow furrowed of its own accord.
Until he could take human form—as described in ancient texts—or attain power equivalent to it, he had to keep a low profile.
Having been a human himself in his past life, Sobaek understood this truth better than anyone.
Humans were, by nature, greedy creatures.
They would throw away their lives to possess more, and they would commit unprincipled acts without a shred of hesitation.
Martial artists were no exception to this rule.
They will go through fire and water to pursue the peak of martial arts. If it means obtaining a miraculous herb or a spiritual elixir, they are a breed that would readily betray their own masters and sects.
Indeed, had Sobaek himself encountered a Jimjo in his past life, his eyes would have spun, and he would have immediately tried to capture it.
I was too hasty before.
He recalled the time he had spotted the sailing vessel outside the cage.
What would have happened if he had approached them? What if there had been a martial artist among them...?
Even now, the thought sent a shiver down his spine.
Just then,
"!!!"
Seven streaks of lightning, heavy with a gloomy, ominous energy, struck down. The pitch-black cave flickered wildly.
Startled, Jim-i curled into a ball, trembling with fear. Sobaek quickly ushered her deeper into the recesses of the cavern.
Then,
Whoosh—
A torrential downpour began to fall.
The estuary below the cave surged continuously.
It seemed he would have to refrain from going outside for the time being.
Fortunately, their current nest was a natural sanctuary.
Moreover, they had more than enough food. The carcass of the Black-scaled Blood Python was nearly ten feet long.
Since the spiritual flesh of a beast did not easily decay over time, they could easily hold out until the situation outside stabilized.
Sobaek and Jim-i remained in the depths of the cave, sustaining themselves on the carcass. But he did not let the time go to waste.
He gradually absorbed the sealed core of the Black-scaled Blood Python and occasionally guided Jim-i's true qi.
Finally, after a fortnight had passed,
It is about time to head out.
The dark clouds that had blanketed the entire island had completely cleared. He could no longer sense any powerful presence.
As Sobaek made to leave the cave,
"Cheep! Cheeeep!"
Jim-i clung to him, shaking her head desperately. She was begging him not to go.
However, they could not hide here like the dead forever. Besides, their supply of spiritual flesh had finally run dry.
Sobaek gently pried her off and gestured for her to wait, but—
"Cheep!"
She clearly did not want to be left alone. Wearing a sullen pout, Jim-i stuck close to Sobaek's side.
Sigh.
It was troublesome, but he had no choice.
He understood her feelings.
Having someone by her side would be far better for her peace of mind than being left alone.
Reluctantly, Sobaek brought Jim-i along as he stepped outside.
It is bright.
It was the first sunlight he had seen in a long time. Perhaps because they had lived in darkness for so long, the intense light made him squint.
Only after some time did his vision fully adjust.
He decided to survey the area near the nest first. Sobaek took to the sky, scanning the ground below.
The island was in utter ruin, as if hit by a cataclysm.
The mountainside near their cave had completely collapsed, and the earth was blackened and dead—to the point where no living thing could survive.
There was not a single trace of vitality.
Few creatures could withstand such potent poison. At most, only a Jimjo or a Black-scaled Blood Python could endure it.
As they descended lower, Jim-i landed beneath a fallen giant tree, tilting her head. She sniffed the air and suddenly let out a bright, cheerful chirp.
Hmm?
Only then did Sobaek realize whose poison lingered in this soil. It was undoubtedly Mother Jimjo's.
Yet, Sobaek could not bring himself to smile.
The seven streaks of lightning he had felt at the end, and the traces of what he presumed to be martial arts, were etched everywhere.
The toppled giant trees and dried-up streams bore silent witness to this.
A weapon is merely a medium to manifest power. Is it a type of martial art that does not rely on a specific weapon? At the very least, they must be in the Harmony Realm...
Namgung Danwu, who had ascended, was at the entry stage of the Harmony Realm.
Specifically, the first stage: the Three Flowers Gathering.
Upon reaching this stage, one's physical body is reconstructed, aging is suppressed, and one gains the qualification to ascend to the upper realm at any time.
Yet, judging by these traces,
the perpetrator was, at the very least, stronger than Namgung Danwu.
In his past life, although Sobaek had been unable to ascend due to the nature of the Mandok-gwigong, his martial prowess was by no means inferior to Namgung Danwu's.
Thus, he knew.
He knew just what kind of absurdly powerful entity had clashed with Mother Jimjo.
Unless they had shown mercy, there was not a single shred of hope that Mother Jimjo had survived.
Even if, by some miracle,
she had escaped with her life...
...her remaining days would be far from peaceful.
She would either be captured alive to have her core extracted, or be used as a mere vessel to harvest her toxic poison.
As he pondered, Jim-i, who had been waddling around, approached Sobaek with a feather clutched in her beak.
"Cheep?"
It was a deep green.
Mother Jimjo's feather.
...
Sobaek decided not to tell Jim-i of Mother Jimjo's death. Sometimes, ignorance was bliss.
But where did such a master suddenly come from? Did they enter from the outside?
This island was shrouded by a barrier. Escaping from the inside was impossible; Sobaek had tried several times, only to fail each time.
However, if someone could enter from the outside, the reverse should also be possible. Of course, one could not rule out the possibility that a master of that caliber had simply forced their way through by sheer strength.
While he needed to investigate further, the fact that escaping the island was not entirely impossible was, at least, good news.
Sobaek gathered a few stones from the surroundings and built a small cairn. Finding this fascinating, Jim-i set down the feather and began gathering stones as well.
"Cheep?"
Jim-i asked what it was.
Instead of answering, Sobaek placed the feather she had dropped in front of the stone tower.
Then, he closed his eyes and offered a silent prayer.
Sensing the solemn atmosphere, Jim-i closed her eyes and followed suit.
Though their time together had been brief, she was, after all, the mother who had brought them into this world.
There is nothing special I can do for you. But it is only right that I pray for your soul. I pray that you find peace in your next life. And...
The Tang Clan never forgets a debt of gratitude or a grudge.
Therefore...
I will surely avenge you.
Sobaek shook off his thoughts with that final vow.
Immediately after finishing his silent tribute, Sobaek took Jim-i and began to scout the entire island.
The first place they surveyed was, naturally, Mother Jimjo's territory.
...It looks as though a war has broken out.
If anything, it was worse.
Dead fish-beasts floated in the rivers, and half the forest had been reduced to ashes. He could barely sense the presence of even ordinary animals. Had it not been for the torrential rain midway, the entire forest would have burned to the ground.
This land was no longer fit for spiritual beasts to inhabit.
Afterward, they made a round starting from the nearby highlands, sweeping through the south and the east. The presence of the entities known as the masters of each territory was completely gone.
Traces of humans were left not only in the Jimjo's territory but in other regions as well. Along with sword marks, there were quite a few traces of exotic weapons that Sobaek did not recognize.
Is this a chain-sickle...? Considering the length and width of the gouges, it seems likely.
Every single one of them possessed extraordinary skill.
By the standards of the Central Plains, they were masters easily capable of ranking among the top ten strongest in the world.
There was undoubtedly an organization composed of martial artists at play.
An inescapable cage, a voice that incited desire, and the deaths of powerful spiritual beasts.
Deducing from these facts...
Now, I am certain.
This place was a breeding ground, and they were "harvesting" the cores at regular intervals. The mysterious voice must have also been projected using some sort of sorcery or formation.
I must find a way off this island as quickly as possible.
If he failed to find a way, Sobaek would not be able to escape the same fate as Mother Jimjo.
The last place they inspected was the southern wetlands.
The entire region has been turned into a wasteland?
The situation here was the most severe.
Even ordinary animals, not just spiritual beasts, lay dead in heaps.
To give an idea of the scale, the deep swamps were completely choked with carcasses.
Even Jim-i, who had seemed rather oblivious until now, grimaced.
Sobaek lowered his altitude slightly.
There were no spiritual beasts left to pose a threat anyway, and the bizarrely dense cobwebs spun between the trees made flying difficult.
As they slowly surveyed the wetlands,
"Blegh!"
Jim-i landed on a rock and covered her beak with both wings. Only then did Sobaek catch the stench. When he consciously opened his senses, it hit him far more vividly than before.
Even the animal carcasses filling the swamp had not given off such a putrid rot.
It was bizarre.
Sobaek made to head toward the source of the stench to investigate, but Jim-i shook her head frantically.
"Cheep, cheep!"
She was protesting.
Ignoring her, Sobaek took flight.
Jim-i hesitated for a moment, then pressed a wing to her forehead and let out a long sigh. Her behavior was remarkably human-like.
The source of the stench was not far.
It lay right on the border where the wetlands met the Jimjo's territory.
There, a spiritual beast with the body of a spider and the face of a human lay dead. Its neck was twisted at a grotesque angle.
A Human-faced Spider...?
It was as large as a bull, and a gaping hole had been pierced right through the center of its body.
They extracted its core.
He could easily piece together what had happened. As expected, it had fallen victim to the harvesters.
This fellow must have been the master of the wetlands.
The core of a spiritual beast of this caliber was superior to most spiritual elixirs. In terms of rarity, it was even more precious.
Considering that cobwebs had been spun across this entire territory, his assumption was likely correct.
Furthermore, its mouth was packed with tiny spiders, each bearing the face of a human woman.
The sight was profoundly grotesque.
They appeared to be feasting on the spiritual flesh of the Human-faced Spider, and they seemed to be the source of the foul stench.
Though faint, Sobaek could sense spiritual energy from them. In a way, they felt similar to the jiangshi controlled by the Mount Mao Sect. No heartbeat could be felt.
Hmm...
Sobaek pondered for a moment.
Should he leave these creatures be? They were not something he could consume to absorb demonic energy, yet leaving them alone left an unpleasant aftertaste.
Perhaps these tiny spiders were not the offspring of the Human-faced Spider at all—
Perhaps, just perhaps,
they were a manifestation of the spider's divine ability.
It is best to eliminate any potential danger.
With that thought, Sobaek looked at Jim-i. His eyes had grown cold. A faint flicker of something akin to madness danced within them.
It should be fine.
Jim-i seemed to instinctively dislike the spiders, and not just because of the stench.
When Sobaek commanded her to set them ablaze,
"Cheep!"
Without a moment's hesitation, she unleashed her flames. This was Jim-i's divine ability, born after she had completely absorbed half of the bat-beast's core.
"Kieeeeeeeek—!"
Sobaek flinched. The tiny spiders burst one after another, emitting bloodcurdling shrieks.
They seemed to harbor some inexplicable malice or resentment. An instinctive sense of unease washed over his entire body.
Had this been a wise decision?
Had he acted too hastily?
But the deed was done.
Regretting it now would solve nothing.
A breeze blew past. The stench mingled with the smoke and gradually faded.
Sobaek and Jim-i stared blankly at the blazing fire, and only after—
Crackle, crackle—
—everything had been completely reduced to ashes did they finally leave the wetlands.
Amidst the charred remains of the Human-faced Spider that Jim-i had burned,
a tiny spider opened its eyes from within the carapace that had already turned to ash.
Skrrrrt—
It did not possess a human face, nor did it exude any demonic energy. The spider rotated its head in a full circle, much like an owl. Soon, it crawled out of the Human-faced Spider's carapace and began to inhale the burnt ashes.
Swoooosh—!
The tiny spider's abdomen swelled as if it were about to burst, gradually growing larger. Though it shrieked in apparent agony, it did not stop. Slowly, the color of its eyes began to shift. Its dull, vacant pupils gradually gleamed with intelligence.
Having grown excessively bloated, the spider began to behave strangely.
Staring up at the sky, it spat silk not from its spinnerets, but from its mouth. Its body was quickly enveloped in dense webbing, forming a hemispherical cocoon.
It did not budge a single inch.
No beasts approached the cocoon, deterred by the foul stench it continuously emitted.
Seventeen days and nights passed in this manner.
Crack— snap!
The sound of bones twisting and snapping echoed from within the cocoon.
Only after nearly another month had passed did—
Riiiiip—!
—the cocoon split open, and a spider emerged from within. Its appearance was vastly different from before.
Bizarrely, a human voice slipped from its mandibles.
"Ah..."
A beast with the face of a human and the body of a spider.
It was the Human-faced Spider.