Chapter 93: Evolution (1)
Translator: bjgoofy
“This little rascal, making us suffer like this.”
As the creature collapsed onto the gravel, the voice of the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons Grandfather rang out from among the crowd that had gathered.
Because the sun was behind them and they were all covered in Yohwa's threads, it felt as if they had used some kind of cloning technique.
When I was trying to find grandfather among the people to figure out who exactly was grandfather, someone who walked out from among the identical silhouettes placed his hand on the creature's head and said.
“Now then, let’s take a look at how remarkable this Inner Core must have been to allow him to use Controlling Qi to Soar Upward? Ahem.”
As Grandfather placed his hand on the creature's head and said he would look for where the Inner Core was located, the crowd tightened their formation even more.
Everyone who had participated in the raid forgot about keeping watch and gathered around.
For me, this creature himself was the most important matter, but for everyone else gathered here, the true interest was the Inner Core.
Since it's a medicine that can raise internal energy, which is one of the two most crucial things martial artists value alongside martial arts techniques, it's only natural for them to care.
At that moment, voices rang out from afar.
“Did you catch him!?”
“You caught him? Ryong-ah?”
It was Seol Noona and Hwa-eun.
Seol Noona and Hwa-eun hadn't been able to participate in the stalking because wearing Yohwa’s threads would have revealed their body contours too clearly, so they had been waiting nearby. But upon hearing that the creature had collapsed, they had apparently rushed over.
"Yes, we caught it."
At my nod, both of their faces brightened.
And from their mouths came the same question.
“The Inner Core?”
“What about the Inner Core?”
It seemed that Noona and Hwa-eun were also most curious about the Inner Core.
I looked toward Grandfather and answered.
“Grandfather is checking it right now.”
Then even the usually reserved Hwa-eun, unable to contain her curiosity about the Inner Core, approached Grandfather, who was scanning from the creature's head down to confirm the size and location of the Inner Core the Flying Celestial Serpent possessed, and asked,
“Grandfather, how remarkable is it? Surely, judging by the fact it used Controlling Qi to Soar Upward, it's at least a Gapja? Isn’t it?”
Gapja is said to be an amount of internal energy one would gain after cultivating for sixty years.
At Hwa-eun’s question, everyone’s eyes and ears turned to Grandfather. In response to her question, Grandfather raised his hand slightly, as if to say "Wait a moment."
After a brief pause, Grandfather removed his hand around the creature's nape and murmured to himself,
“Hmm... At this level, it’s easily two Gapja… Moreover, it’s not even that large, and it’s a good Inner Core with compressed energy.”
“““T-Two Gapja!”””
That single line dropped like a bomb on the gathering: “Two Gapja.”
One Gapja is sixty years of internal energy, so two Gapja would be 120 years of internal energy.
“Grandfather, did you say two Gapja!?”
“Elder, are you certain it’s two Gapja?”
At the mention that the creature possessed an Inner Core containing internal energy equivalent to someone who had cultivated for 120 years, the gravel field beside the valley began to boil with excitement.
“Soryong, just slice it open… I mean, let’s take it out. We haven’t grown attached yet.”
“Yeah, Ryong-ah, it’s not ten or twenty years, we’re talking one hundred twenty years. Even if you absorb just half, that’s sixty years of internal energy. Then you’ll never lack internal energy when learning martial arts again.
As Hwa-eun said, we need to decide before we get emotionally attached. It’ll be harder to take it out later if you do, right?”
The argument that the creature might be a goose that lays golden eggs, which had barely held back the suggestion to cut him open, seemed to have completely vanished from people’s minds at the words - two Gapja.
***
After the talk began circulating that the creature held an Inner Core containing one hundred twenty years of internal energy, I had been relentlessly pestered by the two women.
Specifically, to cut open the creature's belly.
“Soryong, if it’s combined properly with the right internal energy cultivation technique as Grandfather said, you might gain internal energy that’s on the verge of complete transformation. Then, if you just pass through the stage of enlightenment, you might even be able to overcome your Ten Poisons Physique.”
“Yeah, Ryong-ah, the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace and the Tang Family will both help you find a cultivation technique compatible with that creature's Inner Core, so let’s just cut him open already!”
Even these two, who knew how much I liked venomous creatures, were telling me that since I hadn’t grown attached to the creature yet, I should just close my eyes and slit his belly once.
They said that while I wouldn’t be able to absorb all of it, even absorbing half of it would be incredibly valuable.
Moreover, if I could somehow absorb the entire thing, it might even change the nature of my Ten Poisons Physique.
Honestly, I was tempted by the idea of improving my constitution.
After going down the Five Poisons tech tree, I had reached a state where I might not be able to accept one of the ten great venomous creatures, but if I improved my physique, it meant that skill slots would simply increase more.
‘Adding slots is never an easy thing, is it?’
Even in games, adding skills is common, but increasing the number of slots themselves was never easy. So I couldn’t just brush off the two’s suggestion.
But the problem was, the creature was a super rare specimen.
I couldn’t give him up so easily.
‘But the Flying Celestial Serpent is just too rare of a creature.’
A cobalt-blue body and green horns.
And those awesome dorsal fins rising along its back.
Was that all? It could even fly.
The reason the Flying Celestial Serpent had been rated just below the Ten Great Venomous Creatures was due to its flight ability and its outstanding body, but it wasn’t ranked higher simply because its poison was weak.
The sole reason it couldn’t make the Ten Great list was because of its poison.
Right after catching it, after confirming the inner core, the next thing Man of Ten Thousand Poisons grandfather proceeded with was a poison test.
Since he was the Tang Family’s top expert, truly dedicated to poisons, he naturally checked the venom right after the Inner Core.
And the result of that test showed the creature's venom ranking was clearly lacking.
“Hm... Well, there will be differences between individuals, but I was wondering why a creature with such an incredible Inner Core couldn’t become one of the Ten Great Venomous Creatures, it was because of the poison.”
"Is the poison weak?"
“It’s definitely a Paralysis Poison, just like we expected, but it’s definitely inferior to Yohwa’s. Still, since its body is so strong, perhaps there was no need for a strong poison.”
Grandfather concluded that the creature's poison was a lower-tier version of Yohwa’s Paralysis Poison.
If Yohwa’s poison was an immediate-effect Paralysis Poison that left the target conscious, then the creature's was a slower-acting version that could knock someone unconscious entirely.
Also, if you think about it, the Flying Celestial Serpent lives alone deep in the jungle, while Yohwa must consume human yang energy to survive.
So if you consider which of the two is more dangerous to humans, it’s clearly Yohwa.
That’s probably why the Flying Celestial Serpent didn’t make it into the Ten Great Venomous Creatures, Grandfather cautiously suggested that opinion.
“Ryong is a good boy, so he’ll listen to Seol Noona, right?”
“Soryong....”
Seol Noona and Hwa-eun’s persuading continued the entire way back to the Beast Palace.
***
Two days after departing from Gorge Water Valley.
After being pestered the whole way back to the Beast Palace, I finally lay down to sleep, when I heard Hwa-eun’s quiet voice in my ear.
[Soryong, could we talk for just a moment?]
[Ah, I understand.]
‘Don’t tell me... it’s that again?’
After being constantly harassed for two days straight between Seol Noona and Hwa-eun, now they were calling me again the moment I lay down.
Were they seriously planning not to let me sleep until I agreed to cut open the creature?
Grumbling internally, I followed Hwa-eun.
We entered the grassy area together.
Hwa-eun, sitting on a rock, gestured for me to sit beside her.
“This way, Soryong.”
Then, with a face full of resolve, she tightly grasped my hand.
“Soryong, back then I didn’t know how amazing you were and acted foolishly, but not anymore. Now, I know just how incredible you are.
That’s why I… I always think only of you, Soryong. About how I can treat you better, how I can be of help. You know, those, those kinds of thoughts."
Hwa-eun, blushing but unafraid, held my hand tight and spoke with sincerity, even making a heartfelt confession.
It was obvious where this was going to lead, but this was definitely harder to endure than the repeated persuasion earlier.
“I-I see.”
“Yes, so I hope you’ll listen carefully because it’s me saying this. Of course I know how much you like venomous creatures, Soryong, but even so, I’m telling you this because it might be an opportunity that will never come again.
You said you wanted to collect the Ten Great Venomous Creatures and reach the realm of Ten Poisons using only them. But the Ten Great Venomous Creatures aren’t that common, and even if you catch them, you’re not going to cut them open for their Inner Cores, right?”
What Hwa-eun said was true. The Ten Great Venomous Creatures were my life’s goal, my trophies.
Having caught them, I’d never cut them open just to take out their Inner Cores. I nodded in agreement.
“Y-yeah, that’s true.”
“That’s why I’m saying you should extract the Inner Core from this non-target Twenty-Four Poisons creature. If your martial arts level rises, it’ll make catching the Ten Great Venomous Creatures easier too.”
She looked up at me with a wistful expression while holding my hand tightly, and I had a feeling that if I said no, this moment would never end.
That wasn’t such a bad thing, but for now, I had no choice but to say I understood.
She had gone so far as to push through her embarrassment to say this, and it was hard to say no to her face.
“A-alright. I-I’ll think about it.”
“I sincerely hope you make the right decision.”
Just as I came back from being dragged into the bushes by Hwa-eun to hear what was practically a confession disguised as persuasion.
‘I’m totally drained.’
As I was about to head back to bed, I heard the warriors shouting from the direction of the wagon.
“He’s… he’s awake!”
“Bring the Grand Elder and Young Master Soryong at once!”
-Clatter clatter! Crash!
There was the sound of something breaking, along with the shout to bring me and Grandfather. It was clear that the Flying Celestial Serpent had finally woken up.
We’d already expected it to wake up and had made preparations.
“Soryong, look over there.”
Hwa-eun and I arrived at the wagon.
We ran over to the wagon where the creature had been placed, and there, atop the collapsed cart, the creature was thrashing wildly.
-Crash!
To prepare for its awakening, we had put it inside a pouch made by Yohwa three times over.
Under the moonlight, the white pouch squirmed in every direction like a water balloon filled with liquid.
-Shaaah!
And then came the creature's warning sound from inside the pouch.
The creature, having completely smashed the cart, now floated upward as if trying to escape, apparently unable to tear the pouch.
“Finally woke up?”
But not long after Grandfather rushed over, the creature was dragged back down again.
-Thud!
-Kisshh!
The Flying Celestial Serpent, still inside the pouch made by Yohwa, floated up like a balloon but didn’t get far before being pulled down.
Yohwa, who was holding the thread attached to the pouch, along with the Man of Ten Thousand Poisons Grandfather and the warriors who had rushed over, pulled the creature back down while it was still in the pouch.
-Shaaaa!
The creature let out several screeches and tried to rise again, but was dragged back down each time.
Eventually, perhaps having spent all its energy, it began to hiss and wheeze inside the pouch.
-Hssss! Hsss!
Unable to see anything, the creature hissed in every direction, pouring out its fury with sounds that seemed to say it wouldn’t let anyone near get away unscathed.
Grandfather looked at the pouch holding the creature and muttered,
"This fellow’s full of energy. It’s not like it’s been starving for days.”
Snakes are creatures that can fast for over a month.
It hadn’t collapsed from hunger but from sheer exhaustion due to sleep deprivation.
So this kind of rampage was expected and didn’t surprise me.
“Well, snakes are beasts that can go without food for a whole month, after all.”
At that, Grandfather nodded and looked at the creature as he spoke again.
“But still, this is a problem. Now that it’s awake, how do we transport it?”
Just as Grandfather said, the makeshift wagon had been destroyed.
Sure, we could build another wagon, but if the creature kept thrashing like that, transporting it would be a major issue.
As I was worrying about how to move the creature now, Grandfather spoke with a reluctant tone.
“Soryong, I haven’t said anything until now because you seem to like it so much, but there will be problems even if we bring it alive to the Tang Family. The other creatures were calm, so there were no issues raising them. But with this one… where could we even lock it up? That’s what really troubles me.”
Just as Grandfather said, the centipedes had been raised from hatching, and the lizards had been healed when injured, and even Yohwa had been raised by humans from a young age, so she had little to no hostility toward people, or had grown out of it.
I had been so focused on capturing the creature that I hadn’t thought deeply about that, but it was definitely a major issue.
As the creature screeched, Grandfather’s voice followed.
-Shaaaah!
“Why not just kill it and extract the Inner Core?”
At Grandfather’s words, even Hwa-eun nodded in agreement.
-Shaaa! Sha!?
Then suddenly, the creature's screeching stopped.
As I stared at the pouch that now held a strangely quiet creature, Grandfather spoke again.
“It’s truly a pity for a spiritual creature to die and vanish, but if it’s that ferocious, it could harm people. It’s only right to kill it. Let’s decide right here, kill it and extract the Inner Core.”
And just as Grandfather finished speaking,
-Kek! Kkekek.
A strange sound came from inside the pouch.
“What’s that sound?”
“What is it, Soryong?”
A moment of gagging noises echoed from within the pouch, and the creature started to force something up from its throat.
‘Regurgitation?’
It looked like it was trying to regurgitate.
Regurgitation refers to when a snake, having eaten something it hasn’t yet digested, vomits it up, usually to lighten its body so it can escape or move more easily after swallowing a large prey.
But the creature hadn’t eaten for several days, so there shouldn’t have been anything to regurgitate. Yet, shortly after, the pouch containing the creature began to deflate like a balloon losing air, and then it started to emit a vivid blue light.
“Th-this is!?”
“What is that?”
Grandfather, I, and even Hwa-eun approached the glowing pouch as if drawn in, staring blankly at the light that poured out.
A refreshing energy was flowing out.
Then Grandfather shouted in disbelief.
“H-he regurgitated his Inner Core!?”
I’d wondered what it was trying to vomit, but it had regurgitated its Inner Core.
And inside, the Flying Celestial Serpent had shrunk down to barely over a meter in length and was now looking up at us with a calm demeanor.
“Is it offering its Inner Core in exchange for its life?”
At Hwa-eun’s question, the creature inside the pouch began nodding furiously, tears streaming from its eyes.
*****
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