After finishing two hunts in a row, his hunger finally subsided. It was partly because he was that hungry, but also because Cheong-o was not around, so it took time to find prey on his own. If he had finished the hunt quickly, perhaps one would have been enough.
It was a one-sided relationship where he had never felt any inconvenience, but this time, it felt uncomfortable. Cheong-o could come find him at the pond at hunting time, but Jaekyung could not do the same. This was due to the unavoidable fear Cheong-o had for him, so Jaekyung had no choice but to understand.
This understanding was the greatest pillar supporting their relationship. Until Cheong-o shook off that fear on his own, it was something Jaekyung could not force, even if he felt inconvenienced. Having filled his stomach moderately, Jaekyung returned to the pond.
He went down to the bottom of the pond and calmly settled his mind. Since it was a familiar routine he did every day recently, Jaekyung could enter a semi-meditative state in an instant.
'Hooo.'
Resonating with Spiritual Energy. It sounded like something grand, but in reality, it was nothing special. When Yoo Jung-gyeom briefly explained what he knew about resonating with spiritual energy, Jaekyung got a rough idea of what it was.
He thought of resonating with spiritual energy as a kind of image training. In the end, things like spiritual energy or spiritual sense all relied on spiritual senses beyond the physical body. How should one handle senses beyond the physical body?
Jaekyung came up with his own answer. The mind, and further, imagination. Resonating with spiritual energy is about making the physical body, which holds the power of vital energy, touch the spiritual energy.
Then how does one make the two touch? Jaekyung found the answer in imagination and the mind, in other words, will. 'Believe you can do it, and make it happen through will.'
This is another reason why it is difficult for a beast to become a spirit beast. First, one must open their spiritual sense to feel the spiritual energy, and then resonate with the spiritual energy with their physical body. It was something most beasts, empty-headed and possessing only innate instincts, could never do.
But Jaekyung could. He did not doubt that he could do it. He truly believed it, and he also brainwashed himself into believing he could.
After all, if you do not first believe you can achieve something, you cannot even take a single step. First, he felt the spiritual energy spread around him. Although it had thinned considerably, the surrounding area was still filled with spiritual energy more abundant than other places.
Jaekyung imagined a sea of spiritual energy. In his mind, he led his comfortably stretched body and plunged into that vast sea. His body, made of blood and flesh, bone and muscle, instantly softened and became soaked in spiritual energy.
And he absorbed it. Like a sponge. 'Yes, like a sponge.'
Hummm!
As his senses blurred, Jaekyung heard a sound. The sound was coming from his body, but it was not a real sound. It was ringing in the world of imagery he held in his mind.
Crack! Crackle!
His bones twisted and broke. And in an instant, they reattached and realigned. In that process, Jaekyung felt no pain whatsoever; rather, he felt refreshed.
When that refreshing feeling ceased, he tried to open his eyes, only to realize he had never closed them at all.
"Ah!"
Something heavy churned inside him, and he opened his mouth and exhaled. After letting it out, he realized it was a very turbid breath. As he exhaled it, a tingling sensation, like a current of electricity, ran from the tip of his head to the tip of his tail.
"Hiss~!"
If he had human vocal cords now, this sound of leaking air would have been a single monstrous cry shouted at the peak of ecstasy. Jaekyung had never felt anything like this in his past and present lives combined. He had had a few similar experiences in this life, but they certainly could not compare to this feeling now.
Thump!
He struck the pond bottom with his tail and shot up to the surface in one go. Rising above the water like a fresh, lively fish, he opened his maw wide towards the countless celestial bodies in the sky. Before, only the sound of rushing air would have come out.
“Kraaaaaaa~!”
But it was different now. From his wide-open mouth, a thunderous roar erupted. The roar shook the pond and its surroundings, and faintly spread even further.
He had become a spirit beast. He felt a massive sense of accomplishment from that fact alone, but Jaekyung tried to calm down. Now that he had come to his senses, he even regretted the thunderous roar he could not hold back.
Surely other spirit beasts or powerful beings had not heard that sound, right? Should I run far away right now? Jaekyung's thoughts momentarily raced, but he forced himself to think it would be fine.
Suppressing his anxiety, Jaekyung began to check the changes after becoming a spirit beast. The first thing he felt was his lighter body. His weight could not have dropped, so it must mean his overall strength had increased.
He would have to test it to know how much it had increased, but it was a welcome change nonetheless. Next was the change in his physical appearance, no, his structure. Originally, his scales covered about two-thirds of his body.
The remaining one-third, his underbelly, had been exposed flesh without scales, but now even his once-exposed belly was completely covered in scales. Furthermore, although he would have to check, the scales covering his entire body seemed tougher than before. And the next thing is...
'Seems like there's nothing else?' After moving his body here and there for a while, he closed his eyes just in case and searched for any power that might be shyly sleeping within him. But no matter how hard he focused and searched, he could not feel anything.
'Is there really nothing?' He had thought this might be the case, but when his hopeful guess became reality, a wave of disappointment washed over him. The cultivation of humans was something learned and built up step by step.
On the other hand, the cultivation of spirit beasts was based on awakening the power within their bloodline. To use a simple analogy, it was like inheriting a legacy passed down from one's ancestors. The more the ancestors possessed, the greater the legacy the descendants would receive.
You could say they were a race specialized in the circumstances of their birth, a race that revolved around their lot in life. However, just because an ancestor passed down a golden inheritance did not mean the descendant would necessarily receive it.
According to Yoo Jung-gyeom, even if the bloodline passed down from an ancestor was good, how completely one inherited that bloodline and how much of the inherited bloodline one could manifest were different stories.
In other words, it was a matter of probability, but even so, the difference between having something to inherit and draw from and having nothing at all was as vast as the heavens and the earth. For example, his own case.
To a 'dirt spoon spirit beast' like him, with a high probability of having nothing to inherit or manifest, all of that was like a story from another country, no, another world. 'Well, it's still fine.' A dirt spoon spirit beast.
It would be a lie to say it did not sting, but he had been prepared for it, so it was somewhat acceptable. 'It's fine even if I don't have a spoon to inherit. I'll just make my own.'
Someone must have been the original owner of that good spoon they inherited. So where did that original owner get that spoon? They must have made it themselves!
Just like the human cultivators. 'Besides, when you think about it, it's not like I have no abilities at all.' Jaekyung looked over his large, sturdy body.
A body large and powerful enough that it was no exaggeration to call it a monster for its age. What other abilities were needed? This body itself was the greatest ability he could boast of!
His size had not increased, but he had grown significantly through his second molting. With armor-like scales now covering his entire body, would this not be enough to proudly present himself as a physique-focused spirit beast? Aside from this, there was another positive change: the gate to the Garden of Remembrance began to feel much closer.
Not right away, but if he polished his spiritual awareness just a little more, it seemed he could enter the Garden of Remembrance again without obtaining a divine sense. 'Can I meet Yoo Jung-gyeom again?' It would probably be difficult.
Since Yoo Jung-gyeom would continue to serve as a guide for the time being, he likely would not have any spare time. Even if he could spare the time, he would not use it on a newcomer who had just barely gained entry rights. Jaekyung was fairly good at being self-objective.
No matter how much goodwill Yoo Jung-gyeom had shown, he was clearly aware that to him, Jaekyung was fundamentally just one of many seeds sown for the future. 'It might be better to just dive in headfirst and get used to it.' The Garden of Remembrance was a great opportunity.
According to Yoo Jung-gyeom, the path of Cultivation was nothing short of a thorny road. The difficulty of Cultivation itself was a great mountain, but in climbing that mountain of unknown height, all sorts of obstacles lay in wait. No matter how talented a being was, they could not do it alone, so cultivators desperately pursued opportunities.
And what was that opportunity? It was Wealth, Companions, Techniques, and Land. Wealth means riches, in other words, material resources.
Resources needed for Cultivation are included in this. Companions refers to allies and connections, including cultivation partners. This is because no one can stand tall alone forever.
Techniques means the cultivation techniques and secret arts one can practice. Land means a stable environment for cultivation. A spiritual land could be said to be included in this 'Land'.
Yoo Jung-gyeom had called these the four great conditions of Cultivation, and every one of them was true. Even Jaekyung himself was enjoying the blessings of a spiritual land, and was he not thinking of setting out to find another one?
Why?
Because he had tasted its sweetness. Currently, he had only fulfilled one of the four conditions, but even so, he was seeing great effects. Therefore, Jaekyung intended to grasp the other three conditions somehow.
That was precisely why he was trying to enter the Garden of Remembrance as quickly as possible. He expected to be able to accumulate the second of the four conditions there: Companions, in other words, allies and connections. In a way, it was already half-accomplished.
Yoo Jung-gyeom had taught him not only knowledge of the cultivation world but also general knowledge of this world, and such teachings were of great help. Of course, Jaekyung did not expect the other 'kin' in the Garden of Remembrance to be as kind as Yoo Jung-gyeom.
They might not be as kind and good a teacher as Yoo Jung-gyeom, but if he tried to interact with them, would he not gain something? Besides, Jaekyung had something he could rely on. Yoo Jung-gyeom had recognized him as a mentally stable beast and showed him goodwill.
Then would not others be similar? No, would there not be at least a few who were similar? Furthermore, when he met Yoo Jung-gyeom, he was just a mere beast, even if he had a high chance of becoming a spirit beast, but now he was a proud spirit beast.
Although he was a poor wretch without even a dirt-stained spoon, a spirit beast was a spirit beast, was it not? Jaekyung had no intention of over-selling himself and bluffing, but he also had no intention of hiding or devaluing himself and letting potential gains slip away. The next day.
Cheong-o, who flew to the pond flapping his wings cheerfully as always, called out to Jaekyung in a loud voice.
Splash-!
A moment later, the entire pond seemed to surge, and the water's surface violently overturned. And the head of a huge snake revealed itself.
"Huh?!"
Cheong-o, who had been expecting a familiar face, saw his eyes go wide.
"...!"
The two bulging bumps on the familiar-looking snake's head also caught his eye, but that was not why Cheong-o was surprised. It was the overwhelming pressure flowing from Jaekyung the moment he appeared that made his eyes widen. That pressure did not simply stem from fear.
It was the pressure a life form naturally feels when facing a life form of a higher dimension. This kind of pressure was not unfamiliar to Cheong-o. This little bird had seen spirit beasts from afar, and had once even listened directly to the words of a great Immortal by his side. So he could tell.
"Jaekyung. You..."
"Yes."
"How?"
"I ate a lot and slept a lot. As you know."
Ate a lot and slept a lot? Of course, Cheong-o knew well about the life of this large partner of his. He had watched from the side just how much this fellow ate, and he knew he consistently slept in such a good place.
But even so... is this not too fast? Cheong-o had thought Jaekyung would become a spirit beast someday, and had guessed that 'someday' was not too far off, but he never imagined it would be this fast.
“Amazing!”
This was his honest impression, “Congratulations!” This was a remark that came from his now-smarter head.
“Thank you. I owe you for this.”
“Owe me?”
Cheong-o tilted his head.
“Thanks to you, hunting became easier. I was able to eat more easily and more fully than before, so I owe it to you.”
“But I was also able to eat meat thanks to you?”
“Then let's just say we both benefited from each other.”
“Something seems strange… but I think I know what you mean.”
Cheong-o's eyes shone as he scanned Jaekyung, who had just emerged from the water. The scales covering his whole body, which looked incredibly sturdy at a glance, reminded him of a rock demon he had seen before.
At that time, looking at the rock demon, Cheong-o had thought that with such a large and hard body, there would be nothing to fear in the world, and he got a similar feeling looking at Jaekyung now.
Flapping his wings in envy, Cheong-o suddenly looked at his own wings, which felt so small even when fully spread, and let out a deep sigh.
***** Thump!
A gate opened, and a magnificent bridge appeared. Invisible to the eye, it seemed like an illusion at first glance, but it clearly had substance. Jaekyung could sense its existence through his spiritual awareness.
Jaekyung threw his consciousness toward that mysterious and magnificent bridge. The moment his consciousness precariously landed on the bridge. Jaekyung once again stepped into the Garden of Remembrance.