Chapter 91: Twenty-Four Poison Branches (6)
Translator: bjgoofy
"Are you alright? Hwa-eun?"
"It's just a light graze. Once the bleeding stops, I'll apply some wound medicine, so don't worry, Soryong."
Hwa-eun, who had wrapped her hand with a piece of cloth, replied to my question as if to reassure me not to worry.
But I wondered if she was just trying not to cause concern, so I grabbed her wrist to check the wound.
"Let me take a quick look."
"S-Soryong."
Even though we had slept together for days because of Seol noona, Hwa-eun seemed a bit shy at having her wrist held.
Carefully peeling off the cloth and inspecting the wound, just as she had said, it turned out to be merely a scratch across the back of her hand.
"Hmm. It's fortunate it's nothing more than this."
"I told you it was nothing…"
Just as Hwa-eun had said, the bleeding was already nearly stopped, so I gave her an awkward smile and then checked to see if the other kids had any injuries.
"Are you all unhurt?"
-Tsurur!
-Kkukku!
-Kishit!
They responded loudly to my question.
Among our group, the only one injured was Hwa-eun, but aside from her, there were quite a few other injured people, and over on the side, Grandfather, the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons, was tending to the wounded.
"Ugh…"
"I’ve set the broken arm, so let’s keep it stabilized with wood."
"I'm sorry, Grand Elder. For showing such a disgraceful sight."
"Nothing to apologize for. It's not like you failed to dodge an attack on purpose, and who could’ve predicted that a rock would fly like that? Just focus on recovery."
"Thank you."
One of the Tang Family’s warriors had his arm broken by a large rock that came flying up, and a Beast Palace warrior suffered a deep slash on the leg, rendering him completely out of commission.
When I turned my head at Grandfather’s voice, I saw the wounded tending to each other's injuries.
Then, Seol noona, who had checked the condition of the Beast Palace warriors, approached us with a look of disbelief.
"To think it would be that strong… It was the leader among the Twenty-Four Poison Branches in the Tang Family, and now I see why. Ryong, is Hwa-eun okay?"
"Yes, Seol noona. It was just a light graze."
Our first attempt against the Flying Celestial Serpent had targeted the moment it jumped into the water to pounce on Fire Carp.
Though the valley was long, only about three points were deep enough for Fire Carp to survive in.
We had chosen one of those spots and waited for the creature to appear.
The essence of the plan was to trap it underwater using a net made from jungle vines and Yohwa's thread to prevent it from surfacing, then weaken it and capture it.
We had expected the vines to be torn apart quickly, so they were only meant to momentarily restrain it, the real net was the one made of Yohwa's silk.
But we never imagined the creature would simply take off, net and all, weighed down with rocks.
Normally, flying creatures can’t ascend while entangled in a net, so we assumed this one would be no different, but its flight mechanism felt… different.
It was almost like a supernatural power.
"No way! It can actually fly like that?"
"To think it would shoot straight into the air like that!"
And since it flew straight up into the sky with the net still on, we thought it was escaping, but then it crashed right back down into the ground.
-Boom!
When the creature suddenly came near from high above, everyone was startled and scattered, but the real issue was when the massive body, over six meters long, slammed into the ground and sent rock fragments flying in all directions.
The charge itself was fast, but avoidable even for me. However, the scattering fragments were a different matter.
Even the Tang Family warriors, familiar with fast hidden weapons, had never experienced rock fragments ricocheting at such high speed.
Because of that, after the creature crashed three times, Grandfather quickly ordered the main group to retreat.
"Everyone fall back!"
From the third time on, the more skilled ones managed to dodge the flying debris, but the formation was already broken by the first two collisions, and there were too many wounded. It seemed we wouldn’t be able to capture the creature in this state.
If the goal were simply to kill it, or if we were willing to accept a certain level of casualties, then maybe we could’ve managed, since Grandfather, the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons, was here.
But if we suffered too much damage trying to capture it, that would be putting the cart before the horse.
Though venomous creatures are of some use to the Tang Family, it would be unacceptable to lose precious Tang Family warriors in the process of capturing one just for a hobby.
A little while later, after tending to the wounded was complete, Grandfather approached our side.
In a voice tinged with reflection, Grandfather spoke.
"It seems that over the past few days, we let our guard down because of how the creature behaved. If we think back to the Blue-Spotted Centipede, even the low-grade ones were strong, so of course we should’ve been cautious with one at the peak of the high-grade tier."
His words naturally made me nod in agreement.
As I gave a look that showed I shared his sentiment, a question directed at me followed.
"By the way, what now? Soryong, do you have any good ideas?"
It seemed the failure of our first attempt made him seek my opinion as a specialist.
However, what was needed now wasn’t the mindset of a venomous creature expert.
This creature was completely different from anything I knew about living beings.
The expert knowledge I had didn’t apply to this creature.
So a different approach was necessary.
"Let me think for a moment."
‘I need to think beyond the common sense I’ve relied on until now, huh?’
It flies in the sky, crashes down like a missile, scatters debris around, it wasn’t something any creature I knew in my past life could do. This was a moment that called for something else.
"Hmm…"
Just as I was immersed in thought at Grandfather’s question, something made me pause.
‘I have to capture an unknown creature I’ve never caught before… So far, the known pattern is that it rises into the air and then crashes… Hmm? Pattern? Ah! Right! Now that I think about it, this kind of feels like going up against a new raid boss in a game, doesn’t it?’
As I thought deeper, it occurred to me that what we were doing was like raiding a newly appeared boss in a game, and if that was the case, there was only one thing we needed to do.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I spoke to Grandfather.
"I think we need to analyze the creature a bit more closely."
"Analyze? What do you mean by that?"
It seemed like I needed to explain, as it was a term not commonly used in this era.
"Yes, it means checking how it behaves in battle, how its attacks are structured, and so on. If we understand its mechanisms or patterns, we can counter it more effectively."
"Hmm. Know your enemy and know yourself. Is it something like that?"
"That too, but for example, didn’t the creature just now fly up into the air even while tangled in the net?"
"That's right."
"We need to analyze things like how on earth that’s possible, whether it has any habits in the way it attacks, if there’s a certain sequence to its actions, or how best to dodge."
"It’s like the kind of mindset one should have in a life-and-death fight."
"Exactly, so my point is we should learn everything we can about it, including how it flies."
What we needed now was pattern analysis.
I was suggesting that we treat the Flying Celestial Serpent like a game boss and conduct a raid-pattern analysis.
That was when Grandfather spoke, as if he already had an idea why the creature could fly.
"Ah, about that flying, there’s something I find suspicious."
"Suspicious? What is it, Grandfather?"
At the mention of something suspicious, Hwa-eun quickly asked back.
Grandfather responded to her question with a hesitant expression.
"I suspect it might be 'Controlling Qi to Soar Upward'."
"Controlling Qi to Soar Upward?"
"Master, do you mean Controlling Qi to Soar Upward!?"
"Controlling Qi to Soar Upward!"
"Controlling Qi to Soar Upward!"
At the word ‘Controlling Qi to Soar Upward’ from Grandfather’s mouth, people gasped in surprise.
Responding to their reactions, Grandfather nodded and continued.
"When the creature flew, I definitely felt a flow of qi around it. Also, it made no physical movement, yet still floated up. That’s the only explanation.
If not for that, it would be unexplainable."
Wondering why everyone was so shocked about Controlling Qi to Soar Upward, I looked to Hwa-eun for an answer. She nodded in response.
Hwa-eun explained Controlling Qi to Soar Upward to me.
“Controlling Qi to Soar Upward is a form of qinggong, well, actually, I’m not even sure if it should be called qinggong. Normally, when you perform qinggong, you use your qi in your muscles and legs at the moment your feet touch the ground to propel yourself further forward or upward, right?”
“That’s true.”
Indeed, the qinggong I learned worked just like she said.
Like playing a rhythm game, you apply internal energy in rhythm for impact.
“But Controlling Qi to Soar Upward is different. It uses the body’s internal energy entirely to float using only internal energy. To put it in simpler terms, it’s like grabbing yourself by the collar with your qi and lifting yourself into the air.”
"What kind of ridiculous...."
“That’s why it’s completely impossible to perform unless you have immense internal energy.”
According to Hwa-eun, you would materialize your internal energy while standing still, and then use that energy to grab your own collar and lift yourself into the air.
Even a martial arts beginner like me could tell how incredible that sounded, so I asked in a surprised voice.
“Then does that mean the creature has immense internal energy?”
In response to my question, Grandfather the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons, Seol noona, and Hwa-eun all shook their heads and replied at the same time.
“No. It’s not internal energy, it’s an inner core, Soryong.”
“It’s probably not internal energy but an inner core.”
“It must have an inner core, Ryong.”
“Inner core?”
Indeed, the inner core was also inside the mother Blue-Spotted Centipede, which Hwa-eun had consumed, dramatically boosting her martial arts ability, essentially a medicinal treasure filled with qi.
‘If Hwa-eun made a leap in realm just from consuming a low-grade one, then if someone eats the inner core of that high-grade creature...’
At the mention of 'inner core', everyone’s eyes gleamed as they turned toward the valley from which we had just retreated, and their voices followed.
“Hmm… Now we have one more reason why we absolutely must catch it, don’t we?”
“Soryong, we absolutely have to catch that thing.”
I could understand why everyone was getting so excited at the mention of an inner core, but wasn’t internal energy something one could build up with time? Why cut open such a rare creature’s belly?
‘That just wouldn’t be right. What a waste.’
Still, outright refusal would make it hard to convince everyone.
Sensing the mood of wanting to kill the creature right away, I carefully spoke.
“Even so, we should capture that creature alive.”
“Why is that, Ryong?”
“Why’s that, Soryong?”
“There’s so little known about spiritual creatures. If we want to find out how it produces an inner core and understand that process, we have to capture it alive. Who knows? Maybe there’s a way to extract the inner core without killing it. Maybe we can harvest it every time one forms.”
A suggestion that it might be a goose that lays golden eggs.
Grandfather nodded in agreement at my words.
“So then, Soryong, what should we do now?”
The topic had veered off due to the mention of the inner core, but our next step for pattern analysis remained the same regardless.
‘When it comes to capturing a new boss, there’s only one raiding formula, head-on confrontation.’
“We’ll need to keep engaging it to observe all its habits and attack patterns.”
There wasn’t much to it.
When a new boss appears, all you can do at first is keep throwing yourself at it until you figure out its patterns.
***
Our 21st Flying Celestial Serpent attempt.
‘Checking collision pattern.’
“Dodge!”
-Shaaa!
-Kwaang!
As the creature let out a warning cry and slammed into the rocky ground, gravel scattered in all directions.
People quickly widened the distance before the impact and dodged the flying stones. The creature shook its head and began to rise into the air again.
We couldn’t let it take off, so I immediately shouted toward Squad Leader Gu Pae.
“Squad Leader Gu Pae!”
As I shouted from beneath the rock, Squad Leader Gu Pae charged toward the creature just as we had planned.
As the creature came within his range, it abruptly aborted its ascent and launched its body straight at him.
-Chwaaaak
Its body sprang forth like a spring, narrowly grazing Squad Leader Gu Pae.
‘Next comes the constricting pattern, right?’
“Get out of there!”
We had managed to hold the creature down to keep it from taking off, but this moment was critical. If one failed to dodge quickly, the creature would twist its body midair and coil around the person it grazed.
What we had learned through twenty attempts was that this creature was not a viper-type snake but more like a constrictor-type snake.
When attacking, it didn’t bite to kill but rather strangled its prey with its body.
That’s why the moment it brushed past someone was the most dangerous.
We hadn’t known that at first, and Squad Leader Gu Pae had nearly been crushed during one of those early tries.
“Poison Blood Division Leader!”
“Yes!”
As Squad Leader Gu Pae swiftly leapt away to escape, the person I signaled next was Poison Blood Division Leader.
While the creature’s head was still chasing after Squad Leader Gu Pae, Poison Blood Division Leader quickly closed the distance and kicked the creature from behind.
-Thwack!
-Shaaa!
The creature immediately twisted its body.
Its focus shifted from Squad Leader Gu Pae to Poison Blood Division Leader.
Next up in our aggro-ping-pong rotation were Grandfather, Hwa-eun, and Seol noona in that order.
I was standing on a high rock like a raid commander, coordinating this raid.
I might’ve looked like I was taking it easy, but there was a reason I had to do this.
Our raid party had no tank, no healer, no buffer, no debuffer.
It was made up entirely of damage dealers.
'Who assembled this party?'
It was a setup that made you want to curse out the party leader.
But that party leader was me, and the responsibility was mine.
‘What a cursed party comp.’
Grandfather the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons, Hwa-eun, Squad Leader Gu Pae, and Poison Blood Division Leader were all rogue-type DPS with poison damage. On top of that, Seol noona and two Beast Palace warriors at squad leader level were hunter-type DPS who fought alongside beasts.
You could say the party was made up of rogues and melee hunters.
Despite being an eight-man party, this was a death-defying raid that forced fragile DPS to juggle extreme aggro ping-pong on a razor’s edge.
This was the Flying Celestial Serpent raid, and the pattern analysis.
*****
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