A rain of fire. The fireballs that fell were each smaller than a knuckle. But this was no ordinary fire; it was fire formed from the demonic power of a Great Spirit Beast.
The Qi Refining cultivators felt a terrible sense of dread and fear from the falling fireballs. They didn't even dare to think of attacking to destroy or block them, busy as they were just trying to escape. But avoiding rain is not easy.
Especially a rain of fire that burned everything it touched.
"Aaargh!"
Jaekyung's Fire Rain Technique, a modified version of the Spiritual Rain Technique, was not a particularly great skill in terms of practicality. It required a lot of power, but its effect was ambiguous. Showering a wide area with a powerful rain of fire looked impressive, but its actual power was not that strong.
It would be a disaster for those of a lower realm than the caster, but against those of the same or higher realm, it would be hard to expect any effect other than a visual spectacle. But at this moment, for everyone on Black Shark Island, Jaekyung's Fire Rain Technique was a disaster.
Nine out of ten of those within the range of the Fire Rain Technique did not survive, and only those who managed to flee outside its range could save their lives.
And Gong Byeok-un, the Black Shark Gang Leader, while enraged by the horrific scene, had to constantly leap away to avoid the rain of fire pouring down like a storm. Normally, he, a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, would not have needed to show such a pathetic sight.
He could have maintained the dignity of a master by wrapping his body in spiritual power, defending with a spirit artifact, or even scattering the demonic power that covered the sky. But Gong Byeok-un was old, and his power was far from its peak.
On top of that, he had suffered a minor injury from Jaekyung's surprise attack in the Black Flood Dragon Hall, and since then, he had been playing a relentless game of hide-and-seek, exhausting a considerable amount of his energy. Therefore, he could neither dispel this rain of fire nor block it lightly now.
So he had no choice but to flee.
"I'll give you credit for your running skills!"
Jaekyung laughed loudly as he chased Gong Byeok-un. After seeing Gong Byeok-un's expression twist, his laughter grew even louder. He was not doing this because he had some grudge against Gong Byeok-un.
Jaekyung valued efficiency, and idly running his mouth during a fight was far from his style. Nevertheless, the reason he was mocking Gong Byeok-un and trying to provoke him now was to shake his mind, even if only a little. Of course, such a childish trick would not have normally worked.
After all, Gong Byeok-un was an experienced Foundation Establishment cultivator. But now, Gong Byeok-un was cornered both mentally and physically. Mentally, he was witnessing the business he had built over many years crumble in real-time, and physically, his movements were gradually slowing down due to accumulated fatigue and his injuries.
Being subjected to such blatant provocation on top of that, Gong Byeok-un repeated to himself countless times not to get swept up, but a heart-fire inevitably boiled within him. That heart-fire continuously gnawed at his spirit, and eventually, for a very brief moment, it disturbed his state of mind.
And for Jaekyung, who had been waiting intently for an opening, that 'very brief moment' was the opportunity he had so desperately desired.
Bang!
Jaekyung's fangs were blocked. The very same shield spirit artifact that had blocked his headbutt in the Black Flood Dragon Hall once again stood in his way. But the spiritual power imbued in the artifact was significantly less than before, and it lost its power right after blocking Jaekyung's fangs.
"Keoheuk!"
Gong Byeok-un somehow managed to pull his body away, but this time too, he suffered internal injuries from the rebound of spiritual power. Unlike in the Black Flood Dragon Hall, this time the internal injury was not light, and he even coughed up a clot of dark, dead blood.
"Why don't you just give up and be at peace?"
Jaekyung had consumed a lot of demonic power using the fire technique, but in his fights, demonic power was something that was nice to have but fine to be without. His main weapon was his strong body, not some spiritual art.
Kwaang!
Every time Jaekyung moved violently, the ground split and buildings collapsed. At first, Gong Byeok-un had tried to move towards places with fewer people and buildings while dodging, but now he was struggling to escape by any means necessary, without any such considerations.
"Don't you get it? No matter how hard you run, it's meaningless! You're only prolonging the pain!"
This was a provocation, but at the same time, it was a statement of fact. Jaekyung was confident he could continue this tedious game of tag all day, no, for several days and nights. But Gong Byeok-un?
"Ugh!"
It was impossible for Gong Byeok-un not to think what Jaekyung was thinking. The fear that his own life and everything he had built over seventy years could end was not something that even a Foundation Establishment cultivator could easily shake off.
In a fight where a split-second decision determines victory, defeat, life, and death, such emotional turmoil was as fatal as being stabbed in a vital point. His clouded judgment stiffened his already sluggish body.
By the time the fireball falling from the sky reached just above his head, Gong Byeok-un had failed to react, and by the time he tried to, it was already too late.
Poof!
Fire imbued with demonic power engulfed Gong Byeok-un's body. The heat burned his flesh, and the demonic power tainted his spiritual power. The small fireballs that poured down endlessly from the sky were like poison to human cultivators.
"Ugh!"
In that very moment when Gong Byeok-un's body froze. Jaekyung did not miss the opportunity. The serpent's gaping maw swallowed Gong Byeok-un in a single gulp.
* Black Shark Island, once bustling with life despite its somewhat rough and oppressive atmosphere, had become a hell of fire in an instant. The rain of fire from the sky had stopped, but the gloomy sky tinged with demonic energy remained, and more than half of the island was engulfed in flames that showed no sign of dying down.
The surviving Black Shark Gang members fled to places untouched by the flames, but the fire was gradually spreading, threatening to cover the entire island. At this rate, it seemed they had only two choices left. Stay on the island and burn to death, or escape the island.
Naturally, they should choose the latter, but the problem was that they didn't know when the aquatic spirit beasts hiding in the water would leap out. It would have been better if they had fled on boats when the aquatic spirit beasts first attacked, but now they couldn't even do that.
While they had come onto the island under the gang leader's orders, all the boats docked at the harbor had been destroyed by the aquatic spirit beasts.
"Ah!"
The despairing Black Shark Gang members collapsed helplessly. Even with boats, the chances of finding a way to live would have been slim, but jumping into the water teeming with aquatic spirit beasts with their bare bodies was no different from offering themselves as sacrifices. They looked up at the sky, powerless.
Cultivators who sought to ascend the Immortal Path against the heavens were now looking up at the very sky they intended to defy, searching for hope at the edge of despair. If Jaekyung had seen this scene, he would have watched with great interest as if watching a movie, but unfortunately, he had no time to watch this comedy.
Swallowing Gong Byeok-un whole was a good move, but the aftermath was the problem. Although old and his skills greatly declined, Gong Byeok-un was a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Having swallowed such a person whole, it was only natural that he would have trouble.
The lingering thoughts of a Foundation Establishment cultivator were not the issue. An ordinary spirit beast might have gone mad or even coughed up blood and died from just the lingering traces of spiritual power in the thoughts, but it posed no problem for a Great Spirit Beast like Jaekyung.
The problem was the spiritual power contained within the corpse itself. The spiritual power, refined by Gong Byeok-un during his life, was like an annoying foreign substance to Jaekyung. It wasn't life-threatening, but his stomach felt bloated.
'Fortunately, this spiritual power contains a fair amount of fire energy, so I should be able to digest this somehow.' For a moment, he wondered if swallowing Gong Byeok-un in one bite had been too rash. The bloated feeling was not the problem.
What was regrettable was that he had gained nothing from fighting so hard. He had swallowed not only Gong Byeok-un's storage pouch but also his spirit artifacts. If he had to make an excuse, it was because he had gotten worked up without realizing it while continuing the tense game of tag.
The thought that if he missed that chance, he didn't know how long he would have to repeat the game of tag made him act without thinking. 'Well... it's fine. It's just a couple of spirit artifacts.'
The real prize was something else, so secondary gains were fine whether he had them or not.
"Jaekyung!"
Cheong-o, having noticed the fight was over, flew towards him, calling out.
"Is it all over?"
"Not all, but almost. What about the turtle?"
"He's still on guard."
While talking with Cheong-o, Jaekyung frowned as he looked around at Black Shark Island turning into a sea of fire. It seemed that at this rate, Black Shark Island would become a barren island of ash. 'That won't do.'
What was important to him was the spiritual wisdom, not the island, but still, it would be better if it was pleasant to look at. It seemed a little late, but Jaekyung belatedly set about to clean up.
"Hoo!"
He sucked in the demonic power from the fire that was spreading across Black Shark Island. Its nature had changed slightly after mixing with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for a short time, but fundamentally, it was demonic power that had originated from him.
As its master, Jaekyung, willed to reclaim it, the flames that had been spreading with the force to burn the entire island stopped their advance and were sucked into his mouth all at once.
From the clearing of the demonic clouds in the sky to the complete extinguishment of the island's flames, it took only the time of a few blinks. The Black Shark Gang members, who had been despairing and awaiting death, were bewildered by the unexpected turn of events and could only stand there with their mouths agape.
They were glad to be alive for the moment, but their hearts sank when they saw the giant Black Flood Dragon, clearly visible even from a distance, turning its head this way and that as if looking for prey. * Population is a resource. This was a truth that held in his past life's world and in this cultivation world.
Jaekyung gathered the surviving Black Shark Gang members to one side of the island. While he had intelligent aquatic spirit beasts on standby in the water to prevent any from escaping, he intended to contact Gwak Jeong-shin to see if he could sell these resources at a reasonable price.
'It would be better to use them if I can... but that would probably be difficult.' Absorbing and commanding defeated soldiers with whom you were just fighting a bloody battle is by no means an easy task. Even more so when they are of a different race.
Jaekyung hoped to neatly exchange these troublesome burdens for spirit stones rather than forcing himself to take them in and use them. Fortunately, Gwak Jeong-shin, who flew over as soon as he received his message, met Jaekyung's expectations.
"There are quite a lot of them."
He looked at the devastated Black Shark Island, his eyes shining once, and then at the Black Shark Gang members gathered densely in a corner of the island, his eyes shining again.
"I'll give you one low-grade spirit stone per head for early Qi Refining. Five for mid-stage. Twenty for late-stage. How does that sound?"
"Good."
After a satisfactory deal, they began to discuss the bigger deal in earnest.
"As I mentioned before, I can resolve the matter on the human side. However, for that to happen, the supply of Meat-Scaled Fish must proceed without a hitch. Will that be possible?"
"Of course."
Before Gwak Jeong-shin arrived, Jaekyung had already instructed the turtle to search for schools of Meat-Scaled Fish. The turtle had shown confidence as soon as he heard the description of the Meat-Scaled Fish, so Jaekyung was not worried about the trade.
"I'm relieved to hear that."
Seeing Jaekyung's confident demeanor, Gwak Jeong-shin let out a sigh of relief. Then he looked around at Black Shark Island, where ash was still swirling, and sighed in both lament and admiration.
"I can't even guess what this place originally looked like."
But one thing he could guess was that a fierce battle had taken place here. However, the one who fought such a fierce battle looked perfectly fine, almost excessively so, which suggested that the potential of this giant Great Spirit Beast was anything but ordinary.
"Dao Friend. Now that you've become the master of Black Shark Island, do you have anything particular in mind? For example, matters concerning the nearby islands."
"Hmm. I'm thinking about it."
In Jaekyung's mind, Three Frog Island and a few other islands, along with the people living on them, came to mind.