It was Cheong-o who first noticed the change in Mook-soo. This was because Cheong-o had few daily routines. He would either laze around in the nest or go out to find materials to expand it.
Other than that, watching over Mook-soo from time to time was part of Cheong-o's daily life. This time, while doing so, he discovered Mook-soo had become a sprout.
"Mook-soo's gotten smaller. But it'll grow big again soon, right?"
"Probably so."
Cheong-o could hardly take his eyes off the sapling that Mook-soo had become. Even when in the nest, he would keep his head turned toward Mook-soo.
"Mook-soo is eating a lot more."
"That's a good thing."
Having become a sprout, Mook-soo's appetite had grown more vigorous. It was debatable whether absorbing nutrients from carcasses could be called eating, but in any case, the amount it consumed had at least doubled. Furthermore, unlike before, its growth from absorbing nutrients was now visible to the naked eye.
Its growth rate was so fast that even calling it tremendous felt like an understatement. As if trying to make up for its past gluttonous days, it grew literally day by day.
What had been a small sprout grew into a small sapling in less than a day, and not even half a month later, it had grown into a tree of just over two meters. The speed of its growth was one thing, but what truly pleased Jaekyung was that with the appearance of Mook-soo's branches, they could finally communicate.
The branches were still growing, so it was difficult to wave them around like before, but simple communication was no problem.
"Mook-soo. How are you feeling now? Good? Bad?"
It was Cheong-o who was most excited about Mook-soo becoming a tree again. The fellow went over to Mook-soo whenever he had a chance and kept talking to it. Things like whether it remembered him, whether it felt stuffy inside the cave, when it could bear fruit again...
One useful question was mixed in, but most of it was meaningless chatter disguised as questions.
‘It seems to have a better complexion than before.’
Jaekyung observed the newly born Mook-soo from time to time and felt that, even considering its not-yet-fully-grown appearance, it looked more vibrant than before.
Whether it was because of the spiritual soil or because it had turned into a fruit and then back into a tree, he didn't know, but Mook-soo's current state seemed better than when it had stayed by the spiritual spring.
‘When the fellow grows a bit more and can bear fruit…’
Flinch!
Receiving Jaekyung's meaningful gaze, Mook-soo trembled. * 'No more than this.' Having finished his day's Cultivation, Jaekyung scowled as he shook the gourd.
This gourd was no ordinary item. It looked small on the outside, but it could hold a considerable amount. He felt like he had already drunk at least ten liters of spirit wine so far, yet there was still a little left.
'It'll be finished after two more drinks, I suppose.' The thought of having to spend spirit stones again weighed on his mind, but what bothered him more was this barren cultivation environment. This cave was cozy and there was nothing dangerous nearby, making it a perfect place to stay, but he could feel almost no spiritual energy.
As a place for Cultivation, it was the worst. The Clear Mind Incantation involved training the spirit and mind, so the lack of spiritual energy wasn't a problem for its practice, but the Heat Gathering Technique was different.
It was already a basic technique with a slow cultivation speed, and trying to cultivate in a place with almost no spiritual energy was like attaching an iron weight to the leg of an already crawling turtle.
‘I need a spiritual land.’
Jaekyung was not in a situation where he could take cultivation pills, nor could he obtain them even if he wanted to. He had previously made an excuse to Gwak Jeong-shin about wanting to study human cultivation techniques, but if he were to ask for cultivation pills as well, Gwak Jeong-shin, unless he was a fool, would surely become suspicious.
'I can't get things like cultivation techniques and pills through the Prosperous Treasure Guild. I'll have to get them myself later.' It was common knowledge in the cultivation world that the other races could only partially enjoy the legacy of humans after undergoing the Transformation Tribulation, that is, from at least the Core Formation realm onwards.
Yet Jaekyung, who was only at the Great Spirit stage, could cultivate a human technique. If this fact were to be revealed, he would become an instant celebrity in the cultivation world.
Naturally, Jaekyung did not want such a thing to happen, and he intended to keep the fact that he could cultivate human techniques a secret until he reached at least the Demon King realm. Therefore, for now, he had no choice but to continue cultivating only the Heat Gathering Technique.
Since it was something that even human cultivators at the very beginning of the Qi Refining Stage only dabbled with briefly, its cultivation efficiency was bound to be scraping the bottom. 'Still, if I cultivate in a spiritual land, it will be much more efficient than it is now.'
Even so, it would only be a pittance, but for now, even that would be something to be grateful for. 'It certainly is slow.' Jaekyung clicked his tongue at the inferior performance of the Heat Gathering Technique.
If the spiritual energy drawn in through the Heat Gathering Technique was but a handful, the demonic power obtained by refining it was but a single drop. He thought he understood why a basic technique was called a basic technique.
In fact, the fundamental principle of the Heat Gathering Technique he was currently cultivating and the advanced techniques cultivated by human Foundation Establishment cultivators was the same. It was about drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and refining it with the cultivator's power.
The reason why basic techniques like the Heat Gathering Technique were ignored and abandoned even by Qi Refining cultivators was, of course, the difference in cultivation speed.
Whether it was the spiritual energy of a Qi Refining cultivator or the spiritual power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, to gather and refine a lot of it, a corresponding amount of spiritual energy was needed, so they couldn't help but prefer techniques that could draw in even a little more spiritual energy.
Of course, there is nothing in the world that is only good. If you walk slowly, you are unlikely to fall, but if you run in a hurry, you are bound to stumble. Similarly, cultivation techniques with high cultivation speeds are bound to have major or minor side effects or imperfections.
Problems such as needing certain conditions for cultivation or the risk of Qi deviation were typical examples. On the other hand, basic techniques were slow but stable. Jaekyung definitely felt that advantage while cultivating the Heat Gathering Technique himself.
Except for the very fatal flaw of being slow, the Heat Gathering Technique was a perfect fire attribute technique. 'The humans abandoned stability and chose speed.' In Jaekyung's opinion, it was an unavoidable choice.
Humans have short lifespans. The Qi Refining Stage is one thing, but even upon reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, they live for at most four or five hundred years.
In that short time, they must accumulate enough power to advance to a higher realm, so even if they trip over a stone and fall or collapse from exhaustion while running, they cannot stop their sprint. 'But I am different.'
Demon races at the Great Spirit stage vary from individual to individual, but as long as they don't meet an untimely end, they can easily live for two or three thousand years. In terms of lifespan, the demon races were absolutely superior to humans. Jaekyung was the same.
The slow cultivation speed of a basic technique? Unlike human cultivators, Jaekyung could tolerate that slowness and frustration to some extent. The first reason he could do so was the long lifespan of the demon races mentioned above.
The second was that his cultivation had completely stagnated after reaching the Great Spirit stage. Because the time he had spent simmering in frustration at a complete standstill was quite long, he could feel a sense of accomplishment even with his current crawling cultivation speed.
Of course, if this state were to continue... a time might come when he too would reach the limit of his patience. But that was not now. That was why he drank spirit wine every day, cultivated the Heat Gathering Technique, and chanted the Clear Mind Incantation.
'But I still need a spiritual land. It's for my cultivation, but those two won't be able to stand this cramped place for much longer either.' Cheong-o was already showing signs of it a while ago.
It couldn't be helped, but how frustrating must it have been for a creature meant to fly freely in the sky to be confined to a small island and its surroundings?
At first, he seemed to go out occasionally, but for some time now, he had been holed up in the cave like a shut-in, except when he brought back something shiny. The fellow's once-bright atmosphere had also become slightly gloomy.
It was a relief that Mook-soo had become his talking companion again; otherwise, who knows how much gloomier the fellow would have become... Mook-soo didn't seem to have any problems yet, but considering its growth rate, it would soon have to go outside the cave. When that time came, it too would need spiritual energy to bear fruit.
Jaekyung believed so.
‘Hmm.’
Anyway, they all needed a large spiritual land rich in spiritual energy.
"I'll be out for a bit."
"Okay."
Jaekyung glanced at Cheong-o, who was engrossed with Mook-soo, and left the cave. Since he had left a divine sense mark on the turtle when they last met, it took him less than two days to find it.
"I greet the Dragon Lord."
The turtle was not at all flustered to see Jaekyung suddenly appear. A sense of transcendence even seemed to emanate from its humble bow.
"Did you know I would come?"
"Yes. I saw the waves suddenly surge and knew the Dragon Lord had arrived."
Perhaps because of the title "Dragon Lord," or perhaps because of the turtle's extremely polite attitude, Jaekyung felt as if this fellow regarded him as its master. 'He's gained some weight.' His whole body had grown, but he had put on weight overall compared to the last time, looking plump and prosperous.
It seemed he had been eating well.
"I have something to ask."
"Please, just speak. If it is something I know, I will tell you everything."
"I need information about a spiritual land."
The size of the spiritual land didn't matter. He was going to be holed up in one place cultivating anyway, so the size only needed to be large enough for Cheong-o to move around safely without feeling cooped up.
'A place full of fire energy would be the best... but there's no way a place like that exists in a lake.' So, the one condition Jaekyung hoped for was this: That there would be no powerful beings or factions nearby.
"And it would be even better if it were a secluded place."
"Umm."
The turtle diligently searched through its knowledge and memories. The condition Jaekyung set was just one, but that one condition erased most of the spiritual lands the turtle knew of. 'The Dragon Lord wants a quiet place.
But is there such a spiritual land? I feel like there was one...?' After struggling for a few minutes, the turtle finally remembered something.
"Well... Dragon Lord. There is such a place, but there is a problem."
"A problem? What is it?"
"It has a master."
"Isn't that a matter of course?"
How could a spiritual land not have a master? Naturally, Jaekyung also planned to defeat the master of the spiritual land and take it for himself.
"Uh... but the master is human."
"... Human?"
Jaekyung's eyes narrowed. Startled by that chilly reaction, the turtle quickly added an explanation.
"Th-They are humans, but they are not the kind that belong to a sect. They are a group called the Black Shark Gang, fellows who attack and harass their fellow humans."
"The ones the Dragon Lord punished before..."
"The water bandits?"
"Yes, yes! They are in league with those water bandit bastards. I saw it. Not long after the Dragon Lord punished those water bandits, other fellows came swarming. It seemed they were trying to find the ones who had disappeared. But when they couldn't find anything, they started tormenting the other humans on a nearby island."
"They harass the humans living on the island? Why?"
"That I do not know. Well... perhaps they were trying to vent their anger?"
After a moment of thought, Jaekyung praised the turtle with a few words and left. Until Jaekyung's figure disappeared, the turtle did not raise its bowed head. * "Dao Friend Gwak."
"Dao Friend Jaekyung."
Jaekyung met with Gwak Jeong-shin and purchased some spirit wine. This time he bought three gourds at once, which made Jaekyung's wallet significantly thinner once again. But this too was an investment for his Cultivation, so although his heart ached, Jaekyung endured it.
"Haha. At this rate, aren't you going to pay the entire price of the spiritual soil with the cost of wine?"
"It's no joke, that might really happen."
Jaekyung grumbled a little about the high price of the spirit wine before getting to the main point.
"Dao Friend Gwak. Do you know of a group called the Black Shark Gang?"
"The Black Shark Gang? You mean those water bandit bastards? Of course, I know of them."
"Yes. Those water bandit bastards. I have a few things I'd like to ask about them."
Gwak Jeong-shin's surprised expression was reflected in the snake's long, vertically slitted eyes.