After completing his molting, Mook-soo trembled lightly, and a powder like black ash fell away. Then, the form of Mook-soo, reborn from a tree demon into a Great Spirit Beast, finally came into full view. His imposing stature, which made even large trees seem like saplings, had vanished without a trace.
All that remained was a single, dry-looking tree that seemed not yet fully grown. However, the vitality emanating from that small, single tree was incomparably more intense and mystical than before.
"He has crossed over."
Although he had already suspected it, Jaekyung finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Congratulations.” Mook-soo, who had been drooping, trembled. Then, a sound like the wind rustling through leaves was heard. "Thank... you..." “Huh!"
Jaekyung's eyes widened slightly. He looked at the slightly trembling branches and swaying leaves, recalling the voice he had just heard.
“Your talents have grown.”
"Yes."
“Good. Very good.”
Jaekyung nodded, smiling with satisfaction. “By the way, when can you start bearing spiritual fruits? Is it possible now?"
“...”
For a moment, Mook-soo's branches shook violently. But this time, no voice was heard. * Although Mook-soo had become a Great Spirit Beast, he unfortunately needed to wait before he could bear spiritual fruits.
There was no telling how long he would have to wait. It seemed Mook-soo himself did not know. 'There's nothing to be done.'
Still, it would be fine for the time being. This was because he had set aside a considerable stockpile in order to regulate the supply of spiritual fruits early on. If he maintained the current volume of trade, he could last for about three more years.
But if Mook-soo still couldn’t bear spiritual fruits after three years… 'I'll have to increase his food.' If I feed him a lot, he'll grow quickly.
Ah, now that he’s become a Great Spirit Beast, do I have to change his food to Great Spirit Beasts as well? 'That's a bit of a headache.' It wasn't impossible to hunt a Great Spirit Beast, but there were many things to consider.
He could hunt creatures like the giant clam he had encountered on his way back as soon as he saw them, but mindless beasts like that were rare. Fundamentally, Great Spirit Beasts had their own territories, and their spiritual wisdom was awakened to some extent, making it difficult to slaughter them like aquatic spirit beasts.
'If I'm going to target any, it should be the foolish ones. The ones that live alone.' At first, he wondered if it was possible, but as he continued to think about it, he began to feel tempted.
'I should try after I've digested all the remaining spiritual objects and finished molting.' Originally, the Precious Jade Elixir was acquired as an insurance for Mook-soo.
Hoping it would lend him strength when he struggled to cross the Great Spirit barrier, or that it would help him cling to a thread of life if he failed and his life was in danger. But Mook-soo crossed the Great Spirit barrier with just the Clear Tree Heart Root, and thanks to that, the Precious Jade Elixir became his.
'With this, I think I can molt right away.' As soon as he unsealed the jade bottle, a fragrant scent and an extremely condensed spiritual energy could be felt. Jaekyung intuitively knew that this single bottle of Precious Jade Elixir would be more effective than hundreds of spirit stones.
"Haa."
The moment the Precious Jade Elixir in the jade bottle went down his throat, Jaekyung closed his eyes. As expected of a spiritual object famous for its stability, he felt no burden whatsoever. A moment later.
Crack! Crackle!
A series of sounds, as if something was breaking and twisting, began to erupt from Jaekyung's elongated body. Swoosh- The breath he exhaled roughly spread out like smoke, and that smoke turned into a thick water fog, enveloping the surroundings. If someone had witnessed this scene, they would have probably trembled in terror.
For in the thick fog, only the sound of something breaking and a growling-like breath broke the silence.
"Hoo-wook."
Letting out another rough breath, Jaekyung thought that this molting was a little different from the previous ones. He felt more heat rising in his body than before. He guessed it was probably due to consuming two spiritual objects.
'Come to think of it, could this molting be considered my bloodline divine art?' The legacies of the demon races are passed down through their bloodlines. That legacy could be knowledge, an intuitive power, or a strange divine art.
There was no absolute hierarchy in legacies, but generally, special and powerful legacies often included divine arts. In that respect, his molting, which had long since diverged from the general concept of molting, could rightly be considered a divine art or an ability equivalent to one.
It could be activated as long as he absorbed enough spiritual energy, and with each molting, his physical body grew stronger. Looking at its effects alone, could it not be called an innate physique-focused divine art?
Crackle!
An especially loud crack. In that instant, Jaekyung's mouth gaped open. It was partly due to pain, and partly due to an indescribable sense of relief.
Something rained down from his wide-open mouth. Looking down belatedly to check, he saw they were the teeth that had been firmly in his mouth until just moments ago. Dozens, hundreds of teeth, each like a well-honed blade, lay scattered, faded and cracked.
The teeth were just the beginning. Soon, fist-sized scales fell off in a shower. Most of them shattered into fine pieces as soon as they fell from his body, but occasionally, some landed on the ground while retaining their shape.
Fwoosh!
At some point, a suddenly erupting flame engulfed Jaekyung's entire body. The dense demonic flame endlessly tempered his newly transformed and grown physical body.
“Kraaaaaaah!”
As a ferocious roar echoed, the walls and ceiling cracked with a "Jjeo-jeok!" sound. The humans sprinkling spiritual rain outside the Black Flood Dragon Palace, and the aquatic spirit beasts swimming near the island, trembled in fear. A few of the faint-hearted even rolled their eyes back and lost consciousness.
Some time later. Jaekyung, feeling both a profound sense of exhaustion and fulfillment throughout his body, checked the changes after this molting. First, his already massive body had grown even larger.
160 meters? 170 meters?
He wasn't sure exactly, but it seemed he had grown by at least ten percent compared to before. As his body grew, his strength also became greater. Even while being completely drained and famished, power overflowed from his entire body.
But what caught Jaekyung's attention were not these familiar changes.
'This is...' 'This is...'
“...”
Jaekyung sensed a small something that had formed near his heart. It was a concentration of power, and at the same time, the essence of life. Compared to his huge body, it was so small and insignificant, yet its presence was no less than that of his fiercely beating heart.
As he observed it seriously, Jaekyung soon recalled a certain spiritual object he had consumed a few days ago. The more he looked at this small something nestled in his heart, the more it resembled that spiritual object. 'Is this Refined Blood?'
His guess soon turned into certainty. Jaekyung felt a subtle energy flowing from what seemed to be a single drop of blood, slowly changing him. It was a slow but immense, faint but definite qualitative change.
* After finishing his molting, Jaekyung checked the storage pouch of the fugitive human cultivator. There were a few low-grade spirit stones, some cultivation pills, and several spiritual artifacts with varying degrees of damage. By all accounts, these were not items a Foundation Establishment cultivator would use; they seemed to be things collected from some unlucky Qi Refining cultivators.
Foundation Establishment cultivators generally wouldn't even glance at the possessions of Qi Refining cultivators, but there were always frugal individuals who would try to squeeze every last drop, even from an ant's liver.
'Hmm.'
Jaekyung didn't even spare a glance for items like spirit stones or spiritual artifacts. What caught his interest were two jade slips, one recording a cultivation technique and the other a secret art. The technique was a water-attribute Foundation Establishment technique, likely the one that cultivator had practiced.
A quick look revealed nothing special about it, a technique of a level that could be bought anywhere as long as one had spirit stones. Still, since it was a Foundation Establishment technique, it would probably fetch a decent amount of spirit stones if sold. 'This... is a secret art?'
The cultivation technique had slightly disappointed Jaekyung, but the secret art was quite intriguing. It was a soul secret art called the Tiger's Might Soul-Suppressing Art. It claimed to suppress the target's soul and turn them into a puppet, but upon closer examination, Jaekyung found this description to be somewhat exaggerated.
Generally, subduing the soul of an opponent of the same level is even more difficult than subduing them with physical force. The Tiger's Might Soul-Suppressing Art also briefly explained this point. 'This secret art... was created from the start to subdue opponents with low spiritual wisdom.'
Jaekyung soon grasped the core of the Tiger's Might Soul-Suppressing Art. In his opinion, it was safe to say this secret art was created to deal with the demon races, specifically spirit beasts among them. Many spirit beasts had low spiritual wisdom, and this was especially true for aquatic spirit beasts.
'You could even call it a Beast Taming Art.' Jaekyung suddenly recalled the water-balloon-like creature in the beast pouch. Looking at it now, he suspected that creature had also been subdued by this secret art.
'This secret art... if used well, it would be a pretty good way to make a living.' Recalling the auction on Star Rock Island, the value of useful spirit beasts was comparable to that of decent spiritual objects.
If one properly cultivated this Tiger's Might Soul-Suppressing Art, they could safely and cleanly subdue most aquatic spirit beasts, making it a more excellent way to earn spirit stones than most of the Hundred Arts of Cultivation. 'Was he chased because of this?'
He had checked all the items in the storage pouch, but couldn't find anything more valuable than this secret art. 'To lose his life over a mere secret art like this.' Jaekyung inwardly clicked his tongue, but on second thought, it seemed plausible.
In the end, no amount of spirit stones was ever enough, and for mountain sect cultivators with no one to rely on, their eyes would turn murderous over a single spirit stone. To such people, a secret art like this would, in some ways, feel as precious as a decent spiritual object or a rare cultivation technique.
'Not bad.'
Jaekyung repeated the incantations of the Tiger's Might Soul-Suppressing Art to himself several times. The purpose of this secret art was not important to him. Subduing spirit beasts?
A single glance, a single roar was enough for that, so there was no need to use a secret art. What he was focused on was the approach to the opponent's soul itself.
'Interesting.
But I must approach this with caution.' The soul was not something to be trifled with. Jaekyung was certain that the water-droplet-like creature in the beast pouch had been subdued by the Tiger's Might Soul-Suppressing Art, and he was also certain that its soul was a complete mess.
This must have been the result of the cultivator's mistake while trying to subdue it. He was supposed to subdue it, but he ended up creating an idiot, no, a living corpse. 'I have one more thing I must cultivate.'
His already insufficient time became even more so, but Jaekyung was happy. He had strengthened his physical body through molting and his demonic power through cultivating techniques, but he had never properly researched, let alone trained, his soul.
He had been thinking about it early on, but soul-related techniques and secret arts were extremely rare and came with a hefty price tag. So he had been consoling himself that he would acquire one someday when he had the means, but to think he would obtain one like this.
'It's a secret art, not a cultivation technique, but it's not bad for reference.' Jaekyung carefully placed the jade slip recording the Tiger's Might Soul-Suppressing Art into his storage pouch, then stretched his stiff body and stood up. He went outside the Black Flood Dragon Palace and summoned Hyeon-gu.
Then he instructed him to search for the Wing-Splitting Fish and several other aquatic spirit beasts.
“Just determine if those creatures are in the water territory, and if so, where.”
“Yes.”
Having given his instructions, Jaekyung returned to the Black Flood Dragon Palace and swallowed the last remaining spiritual object, the Vermilion Great Toad.