In the warm steam, Sagye-wan irritably bared his teeth. He had seen the world through four eyes for a long time, but now he had only two, a single pair on one head, making it incredibly inconvenient to see. To be unable to look forward and behind at the same time!
He had never felt such an inconvenience after becoming a Great Spirit Beast.
"Come out! I have something to say!"
"Grrr! Come out!"
This was not a lie. He truly had something to say. Although, after the talk was over, something else would unfold.
The snake showed no reaction. It was a pity, but on the other hand, he felt it was a relief. If the snake was foolish enough to take such shabby bait, he would have had to reconsider making it his head.
‘Something is strange.’
‘Yes. It's strange. Starting with this steam.’
The sudden steam was strange in itself, but why did it feel so hot?
‘I felt the energy of the fire attribute from that snake's bloodline.’
‘Right. Is this its effect? Has its bloodline matured? Surely it hasn't become a Great Spirit Beast in just a few days?’
‘Nonsense! How could that be?’
‘Did I go too far? Yes. There's no way.’
Was the Great Spirit stage a realm one could ascend to so easily? Even with a Great Spirit-level bloodline, reaching the Great Spirit stage required long years and luck. A mere spirit beast from a few days ago becoming a Great Spirit Beast in a matter of days?
For that to be possible, its bloodline would have to be Demon King-level... That's truly absurd. That snake creature certainly had a special side to it, but even so, there was no way its bloodline was Demon King-level.
‘Then what is this?’
‘I don't know. But be careful.’
His mind knew he had to be careful, but his heart pounded not with anxiety, but with excitement. This strange phenomenon was clearly related to that snake. That creature was smart, special, and mysterious.
If so, what an outstanding head it would make?
‘I will become more special, more outstanding.’
‘We will become special and outstanding. Don't leave me out.’
‘Ah, of course. I'll be able to fix your eyes soon too.’
‘You'd better. I can't stand this inconvenience of not being able to see.’
The dense steam obscured his vision, but being unable to see with his eyes didn't mean he would wander or misstep. A Great Spirit Beast's spiritual awareness conveyed more information than its eyes. Seeing with his eyes was just familiar and comfortable; in truth, sight was a sense that had no advantage over spiritual awareness.
‘Is it still hiding in the water?’
‘Probably.’
Sagye-wan was confident. His concern was about accidentally injuring the snake too much, creating a problem for making it his head. He didn't even consider the possibility of letting the snake escape or getting hurt himself.
‘Should I go into the water?’
‘That's the best option. It would be a disaster if we messed up and damaged the head.’
‘Right. It's been a while since I've found such a coveted head. I can't ruin it.’
‘Be careful not to make any mistakes.’
The two heads flickered their tongues almost in unison.
‘Making a third head is good, but won't that make our space a little cramped?’
‘We can just make it a little smaller.’
‘That's fine too, but I'd rather our body just got bigger. Then it wouldn't matter if we have three or four heads.’
‘It will be soon. If we gain more wisdom. Maybe even the Demon King stage won't be a dream.’
The drool flowing from their two mouths increased.
‘Is this fellow recovering his body in the spiritual spring.’
‘But what is this steam? Is it trying to lure us into the water?’
‘That's probably it. It seems to be a type of aquatic spirit beast, so it would have its strengths in the water.’
‘What an arrogant creature.’
Whether human or demon race, for a cultivator walking the Immortal Path, the most important virtue is vigilance. And the first target of that vigilance should be oneself—that is, arrogance. There is nothing more dangerous than the delusion that ‘I am special, only I am special.’
A creature that doesn't know this will not live long.
‘I'll conceal my presence, you look for it.’
‘A simple task.’
Sagye-wan suppressed his presence and slowly sank into the water. The very first skill Sagye-wan learned after becoming a Great Spirit Beast and settling in the Upper Demon Forest was this art of suppressing his presence. Lowering his presence to reduce the enemy's vigilance.
His two heads thought this skill was superior to any powerful divine ability. If his body was as large as that idiot Yung-won's, so conspicuous everywhere, learning such a skill would have been useless, but thankfully his frame was relatively small among Great Spirit Beasts.
‘Strange. I've entered the water, but I can't feel its energy.’
‘What happened?’
‘Could it be dead?’
‘No way. If it were dead, that crow wouldn't have needed to risk its life to trick us.’
Faced with a situation different from his expectations, Sagye-wan fell into confusion. His two heads exchanged thoughts and guesses, trying to find the snake's mysterious whereabouts, but they didn't realize that the snake had already approached from behind.
Just as the snake's wide-open mouth silently reached his tail, Sagye-wan turned like lightning and spewed green poison mist from his two mouths. * Jaekyung did not know what Sagye-wan's abilities were. Trying to engage in close combat without even knowing his opponent's abilities was not a gamble, but a move born from having no other choice.
But luck was on his side. Who would have thought a creature that looked like a lion would spew poison. When it came to poison, Jaekyung also had some confidence.
Not in using it, but in enduring it.
Snap!
He had tried to bite down in one go, but Sagye-wan's reaction was unexpectedly fast. Having bitten empty air, Jaekyung quickly swung his head and delivered a headbutt to one of Sagye-wan's two heads. Even Sagye-wan couldn't react to this and took the hit.
"Gack!"
The head that was struck made a gasping sound and became dazed. Jaekyung, on the other hand, felt a slight throbbing pain but found it bearable. This was partly because Jaekyung's head was excessively sturdy for a spirit beast, but a larger factor was that Sagye-wan's physical condition was extremely poor.
If he had been in his usual state, even a headbutt taken while defenseless would not have made his eyes glaze over in one hit. Jaekyung knew nothing of these circumstances, nor did he care. He had simply landed an effective blow and tried to press his advantage.
However, before he could approach again, Sagye-wan quickly retreated. To think he could move so fast even in the water; that part was a miscalculation. No. Is that not it?
Perhaps his speed was already dulled by the water. Maybe for a Great Spirit Beast, there's little difference between land and water. Or maybe it's only because this isn't an ordinary river but a spiritual spring that he's affected even this much.
"Grrrroooar!"
Sagye-wan let out a roar of fury. However, the direction his head was facing was slightly to the left of where Jaekyung was. Jaekyung, momentarily puzzled by this, realized the reason when he saw that the roaring head's two eyes were covered in hideous wounds.
‘That creature doesn't know where I am.’
It seemed to have a rough idea, but it was clear it hadn't pinpointed his exact location. Unable to see, it had no choice but to search with its spiritual awareness. However, Jaekyung was constantly using the Aura Concealment Art, so for Sagye-wan, it must feel as if a fog had settled over his spiritual awareness.
Even so, he thought it was a bit strange for it to be this lost, but he accepted it, guessing it was related to Sagye-wan's poor condition. Being cautious is good, but doubting and hesitating over every single thing will accomplish nothing.
‘Alright. I'll settle this before that head with the good eyes comes to its senses.’
No matter how poor its condition seemed, Sagye-wan was an experienced Great Spirit Beast. Besides spewing poison, who knew what other extraordinary abilities it might have. Luck had given him the upper hand; he must not lose this momentum.
Having made up his mind, Jaekyung approached Sagye-wan defenselessly and calmly. To an onlooker, it would seem as if he were not trying to attack Sagye-wan, but simply passing by to go somewhere else. It's easy to think of it as just a natural act, but this simple action was something not just anyone could do.
To erase the killing intent already settled in his heart and hide his hostility meant that he could perfectly control his own mind, even if only for a moment. Jaekyung succeeded, but this action was nonetheless a dangerous gamble.
If Sagye-wan's spiritual awareness had been sharp enough to detect the subtle change in his state of mind, this defenseless approach would have been like handing his leash to the opponent. But fortunately, Sagye-wan did not notice his approach. It pretended to be calm and bared its teeth, but its direction was still off.
‘Now!’
Jaekyung lunged, and Sagye-wan reacted immediately. No matter how proficient he was with the Aura Concealment Art, he could not control his mind up to the very moment he decided to attack. Therefore, he had expected a reaction, but the movement was faster than he had anticipated.
Chomp!
Sagye-wan avoided Jaekyung's large mouth and, instead, bit Jaekyung's neck. The reaction speed was unbelievably fast, even seeing it with his own eyes.
“Grrr!”
A triumphant cry was heard. Jaekyung felt the poison seeping into his body through Sagye-wan's fangs. It wasn't a major threat yet, but he couldn't know what would happen if he let Sagye-wan continue to inject the poison.
‘Foolish creature.’
Jaekyung sneered at the triumphant Sagye-wan and moved his tail. His long body wrapped around Sagye-wan. As Jaekyung's tail coiled around its body, Sagye-wan flinched slightly but did not let go of its bite.
It seemed to believe its potent venom would soon take effect.
"Grrr!"
Sagye-wan snorted and clamped down its jaw, as if to finish him off right there. Was it that confident in its own poison? Or was it looking down on him, thinking, how much strength can a mere spirit beast have?
If so, it wasn't a wrong thought. No matter the difference in size, it was a Great Spirit Beast, and Jaekyung was a mere spirit beast. The difference in realm was not something that could be overcome with physical strength.
Jaekyung knew this fact well. What he trusted was not the strength of his body, but the new ability he had just obtained.
Fwoosh!
A formless flame originating from his spiritual nature instantly covered Jaekyung's large, long body. Although only heat was transmitted, it was enough to make all the water in the area boil at once.
Sizzle!
Sagye-wan, tightly wrapped by Jaekyung's thick, long body as if bound by ropes, was directly exposed to the heat. Sagye-wan, who hadn't even blinked at Jaekyung's constricting force, couldn't help but tremble from this heat. This was no ordinary heat.
It was a heat originating from spiritual nature. If its body had been fine and its spiritual nature intact, allowing it to wield its demonic power, it would have endured it with a yawn, but now, it could not.
In the end, Sagye-wan came into contact with the flame of spiritual nature—no, the heat—with its literal bare body, and the price was gruesome.
“Kuaaang!”
Jaekyung didn't know it, but the real problem for Sagye-wan was not the heat burning its flesh, but Jaekyung's blood flowing into its mouth and throat. Blood filled with Jaekyung's vital energy and spiritual nature. That blood, hot as lava, burned the inside of its mouth, burned its throat, and reached its internal organs.
It could neither stop drinking nor spit it out. Its tongue was already stuck to Jaekyung's scales. Only then did Sagye-wan try to pull away from Jaekyung, but it was already too late.
“Wh-what is this?!”
Just then, Sagye-wan's unconscious head regained its senses. It was horrified to see its burning body, the pain that came with it, and the other head, whose already hideous appearance had become even more gruesome.
“Kuaaang!”
The Great Spirit Beast's fury exploded. The awakened head, without grasping the situation at all, was swayed by emotion and fiercely bit down on Jaekyung's exposed neck. Suddenly finding himself being bitten on the neck from both sides, Jaekyung groaned in pain and smiled broadly.
‘Foolish creature.’
Is it twice as stupid because it has two heads? To think a Great Spirit Beast could be so foolish. In any case, thanks to that, the situation couldn't be better.
Jaekyung squeezed even more out of his spiritual nature, which was already spewing flames at its maximum. The sound of flesh burning and Sagye-wan's screams grew thicker. Some time later, Jaekyung let out a groan and unwound his body.
Even as its entire body was burned and its insides melted away, Sagye-wan continued to breathe. Its spiritual nature had not scattered either. Recalling that its body had already been battered and broken when it first entered the water, its life force was beyond tenacious; it was terrifying.
Drawing out the power of spiritual nature was like human cultivators using spiritual energy. Naturally, there was a limit to the power one could use, and Jaekyung was no exception.
When Sagye-wan had walked into the fiery pit of its own accord, he thought he could easily finish it off, but he had never imagined the life force of a Great Spirit Beast would be this great.
As his spiritual nature hit rock bottom, Jaekyung had no choice but to start tearing off and eating Sagye-wan, one bite at a time. In the process, worried that the charcoal-grilled Sagye-wan might suddenly attack, he severed its necks first. There was no resistance.
As expected, its body was in no state to resist. As he severed the two necks, Jaekyung realized that Sagye-wan's body was even more injured than he had thought. When he finally ended its life, there wasn't even a noticeable ripple of spiritual power.
Metaphorically speaking, it meant its energy was so depleted it couldn't even let out a final gasp. To chase after me with a body like this... should I call it impressive or foolish? Some might laugh at Sagye-wan's recklessness, but Jaekyung understood him.
Sagye-wan probably saw him as prey that could be easily hunted at any time, just like the aquatic spirit beasts of the spiritual spring. Such a thought couldn't even be called arrogance. After all, he was a Great Spirit Beast, and Jaekyung was a spirit beast.
But whether that thought had a basis or not, this was the result. In the end, what drove Sagye-wan to his death was his own carelessness and foolishness.
‘There's nothing worth salvaging.’
After ending Sagye-wan's life and forcing down its burnt flesh, Jaekyung was greatly disappointed. It was a Great Spirit Beast, yet it felt like eating the meat of an ordinary spirit beast. He felt no increase in his vital energy, nor any stimulation to his spiritual nature.
Still, hoping there might be something, however small, Jaekyung forced the charcoal-like meat down into his stomach. Then, he found the head he had dropped on the ground and swallowed it in one bite. At that moment, he finally felt something.
It was a single strand of demonic power. It was so small and faint that it vanished in an instant, making him wonder if it was an illusion, but in that brief moment, Jaekyung was seized by an inspiration.
"Haa...!"
That demonic power just now was undoubtedly the crystallization of Sagye-wan's lifelong cultivation achievements. The Dao is not only about repeated asceticism in a quiet place, moistening one's lips with dew. The life of a spirit beast, lived through fierce struggle from birth to death, is the Dao in itself.
And Sagye-wan was a Great Spirit Beast. The inspiration Jaekyung gained from the single strand of demonic power left in Sagye-wan's head was far greater than anything he had gained from being tormented by the ripples of spiritual power and demonic energy on the battlefield.
Now, he felt he understood what demonic power was, what this unique power created by shaping spiritual energy was. This enlightenment was a precious achievement, more valuable than simply increasing his vital energy or expanding his spiritual nature. Savoring his enlightenment, Jaekyung slowly chewed and swallowed the remaining head.