Chapter 325 - Black Forest (5)

Demonic beast.

A being that lives beyond its allotted lifespan through the energy of a spirit vein and wields power that defies the laws of nature.

That is roughly the usual definition of a demonic beast, but...

'In truth, the way to distinguish a spiritual beast from a demonic beast is fairly simple.'

Ordinary people who have not learned martial arts distinguish demonic beasts from spiritual beasts by whether they harm humans or not.

Even a tiger is treated as a demonic beast if it eats people, and as a spiritual beast if it repays a favor.

On the other hand, for martial artists, the standard for distinguishing demonic beasts from spiritual beasts is this.

What they carry inside them.

If they are carrying some useless poison core or wicked core, they are a demonic beast, and if they are carrying a spiritual pill, they are a spiritual beast.

Because, well, is that not how everything in the world works?

'If it gives you something good, it is a good fellow, and if it gives you something bad, it is a bad fellow. Yes, of course it is.'

My group members and I stared at the Iron-Armored Great Serpent with greed-filled eyes.

Its skin looked as hard as armor, and its flickering tongue darted in and out of a head the size of an ox.

And then there was the length of its body, whose end I could not even see.

Heh heh, if that was not a spiritual beast, then what in the world was?

"That fellow looks like it has a very plump spiritual pill inside."

Did he hear my mutter?

Yang Japyeong spoke with a strangely detached expression.

"It does not have anything like a spiritual pill."

"Huh...? But how does it make sense for something that size not to have a spiritual pill?"

"Most of the masters of this forest are about that size."

"..."

When I drooped my head in disappointment, Yang Japyeong shook his head.

"In any case, it is a sensitive creature, so it would be best to slip past as quietly as possible."

And just as Yang Japyeong slowly took a step...

CRACK.

A branch lying at his feet snapped, and the sleeping Iron-Armored Great Serpent jerked its head up.

... What was he doing?

Yang Japyeong lifted the broken branch with a face gone pale.

"... W-Why is this here?"

So he was the sort of person who escaped reality like this?

"A m-mistake..."

SWISH—

The Iron-Armored Great Serpent flicked its tongue and lunged at Yang Japyeong in an instant.

When the Iron-Armored Great Serpent opened its mouth wide, a cave appeared that looked large enough to swallow a whole ox in one gulp.

"Hup...!"

Yang Japyeong squeezed his eyes shut as if his life was already over.

No, how long was he going to stay like that?

I kicked off the ground, shot upward, and punched the Iron-Armored Great Serpent in the head.

BOOM!

Even though I struck it with a hand packed full of internal energy, it felt as if I had hit a solid iron wall.

"Ho..."

Look at this thing acting like nothing happened.

But what are you going to do about it, then?

I drew the Red Light Sword and brought it down at once.

SKRKRKRK.

However...

"Huh...?"

Amazingly, even the Red Light Sword wrapped in Sword Qi could not pierce its skin.

As I stood there dumbfounded, Yang Japyeong, who had moved out of the way, explained.

"The Iron-Armored Great Serpent's skin cannot be pierced even with Sword Qi!"

Is that so?

Using Sword Force on a serpent feels like a bit of a waste, but I suppose there is no helping it.

"S-Sword Force?"

Whether Yang Japyeong was shocked or not, I raised the Sword Force that had formed over the Red Light Sword and charged at the creature.

SLASH!

I had struck down intending to cut it apart in one blow, but astonishingly, the creature was only wounded; I could not cut through its body.

SCREEEECH!

The Iron-Armored Great Serpent, filled with venomous fury, swung its long tail.

BAM BAM BAM!

Thick trees were smashed apart as it tore through the surroundings.

"Urgh!"

"Eek!"

While the party dodged the Iron-Armored Great Serpent's thrashing, I created three afterimages with Taiyi Eighty Thousand Divine Steps.

The Iron-Armored Great Serpent swallowed my afterimages in one gulp.

CRUNCH.

The Iron-Armored Great Serpent swallowed even the boulder where the afterimages had appeared, then crushed the boulder with its teeth in an instant and spat the stones in its mouth onto the ground.

'... If I get chewed, I die, don't I?'

The important thing was not whether it had poison or not; if I was swallowed, it seemed there would be no way to do anything at all.

In the midst of that thought, I used the Gecko Wall Art to climb up a tree, then gathered internal energy in my palm.

RUMBLE.

The energy twitching inside my grasp seemed as if thunder and lightning were about to strike.

At the same time, I kicked off the tree, leaped up, and drove the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm down onto the Iron-Armored Great Serpent's head.

KABOOOOM!

Because I had narrowed the range as much as possible, its power had dropped slightly as well, but it should have been enough to blow off its head...

'No, it wasn't.'

When the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm dispersed, the Iron-Armored Great Serpent revealed beneath it was still alive, its body twitching.

SCREEEEEECH!

The only difference was that most of its thick armor-like skin had been stripped away, and it was bleeding in agony.

I was about to raise Sword Force on the Red Light Sword and rush in, intending to subdue it in one strike, but perhaps sensing danger, the creature began to flee.

'Damn it!'

It was running away like this?

"What are you all doing?! Grab it so it can't escape!"

At my shout, the dazed group members all began moving at once.

Yang Japyeong, who had been feeling relieved as he watched the Iron-Armored Great Serpent flee, was startled.

"Eh? Why are you catching it?!"

Yang Japyeong said something useless, so I lightly ignored him.

Why were we catching it?

No matter how many duds there were, you had to open it first, did you not?

I quickly gave instructions.

"Jaehwa and Seollan, support from the rear!"

"Yes!"

"Geumpyo, block that thing."

"... Me? With this?"

Geumpyo pointed at his shield and the Iron-Armored Great Serpent, reacting in disbelief.

Thinking that I should not give him any even if a spiritual pill came out, I shouted.

"Just hold it in place so it doesn't attack anyone else!"

"Ah, yes!"

Then, the moment Geumpyo blocked the Iron-Armored Great Serpent's path and began releasing killing intent, the others began withdrawing their own killing intent.

BOOM!

When the Iron-Armored Great Serpent struck Geumpyo with its body, Geumpyo was pushed back nearly twenty feet.

A long line was drawn across the ground following Geumpyo's feet.

And the moment the Iron-Armored Great Serpent that had pushed him back turned to flee...

SWISH—

THUD!

The arrow Jaehwa shot struck the Iron-Armored Great Serpent in the eye.

SCREEEEEEEECH!

With an arrow buried deep in its eyeball, the Iron-Armored Great Serpent let out a terrible scream and began twisting its body wildly, making the entire quiet forest ring.

And as the final stroke, I added this.

"Hraaaah!" (movement)

I drove the Red Light Sword, rippling with Sword Force, straight into the Iron-Armored Great Serpent's head.

THUD!

SCREEEEEECH!

Perhaps because the Iron-Armored Great Serpent writhing on the ground was in such pain, it raised its endlessly long body and shot up toward the sky.

Ten feet, twenty feet, thirty feet.

Just as I, too, was lifted into the air while clinging to the Red Light Sword...

I felt the Iron-Armored Great Serpent's one remaining eye roll backward.

At last.

Like an enormous ancient tree collapsing, the Iron-Armored Great Serpent's body slowly began to fall backward.

I quickly pulled out the Red Light Sword and leaped away from the creature.

THUD!

After falling to the ground, the creature twitched for a while, then soon stopped moving.

Another treasure added.

"Hah... To think you hunted a great serpent."

Yang Japyeong looked at me as if he could not believe it.

"T-This is absolutely not something that should be hunted so easily..."

Where in the world is there such a thing as an absolute?

Everything is relative.

Humming softly, I split open the Iron-Armored Great Serpent's belly.

As expected, I had to use Sword Force even when cutting open the Iron-Armored Great Serpent's belly.

But then...

"..."

"There isn't one?"

When Eunho said that, I glared at him, and he shrugged.

"I simply said there wasn't one because there wasn't one."

"Weren't you being sarcastic?"

"Never! Of course not!"

Then I split open the Iron-Armored Great Serpent's entire body, but in the end, not only was there no spiritual pill, there was not even a poison core.

'This is just a serpent with a big body, isn't it?!'

As I wore a dejected expression, Yang Japyeong spoke as if to comfort me.

"Our sect does not normally hunt demonic beasts either. The reward is far too meager compared to the effort. So now, obediently, to the Demonic Realm..."

Yes, the Demonic Realm!

I sprang to my feet and asked.

"You said there are more demonic beasts if we go to the Demonic Realm, yes?"

Yang Japyeong stared hard at me and sighed.

"You have not given up."

Of course not!

After all, increasing my poison resistance and raising my internal energy had been my goal for this Great Journey from the very beginning.

After hesitating, Yang Japyeong opened his mouth.

"The truth is... There are creatures that carry spiritual pills."

"Eh?"

Yang Japyeong looked at the Iron-Armored Great Serpent's corpse.

"As I said, I had not intended to tell you because it is too dangerous... but it seems your skill is sufficient..."

"Where! Where are they!"

"W-Wait, you do not need to rush at me like that. I was about to tell..."

"Let us go right now! Right now!"

Exactly.

How could it make any sense for a place like this to have no spiritual pills?

The exploration of the Black Forest was only just beginning.

#

Yang Japyeong's route changed from the path they had taken until now.

It took a little more time, moving forward became more difficult, and even in broad daylight, no sunlight entered, making it feel like night.

Rather than feeling like dense undergrowth, it felt more like a swamp.

As the group moved that way, they soon encountered a large snake with red spots.

Yang Japyeong, tense all over, murmured quietly, but...

"It is called a Blood-Shadow Flower Viper, and its poison is extremely potent..."

"What are you all doing?! It's a spiritual elixir! Catch it!"

BOOM!

SKRKRKRK!

CLANG!

THUD.

Before Yang Japyeong could even finish explaining, Jin Sowoon's party moved...

"It's treasure! Treasure!"

And in the blink of an eye, they utterly made short work of a Blood-Shadow Flower Viper.

'... That thing still swallows a boar in one bite, you know.'

In truth, they were an excellent combination.

Among the group members, there was a martial artist who specialized in the bow, and there was even someone who used the rare ice arts.

If there were even someone who used Yang-style internal arts among them, they could truly be called experts in exploring the Black Forest.

"I-I found iiiit!"

Jin Sowoon and his juniors hunted the demonic beast and cut open its belly as if they were possessed by a starving ghost searching for spiritual elixirs.

Jin Sowoon smiled brightly and lifted a small bead with his bloodied hand, and Yang Japyeong was horrified by the sight.

'That! That! Even its blood should be poisonous!'

Starting from the entrance to the Black Forest, he had done insane things under the excuse of poison resistance or whatever, and perhaps he really had gained poison resistance, because that madman... no, Jin Sowoon, was holding the Blood-Shadow Flower Viper's poison core without a care.

Yang Japyeong let out a long sigh.

"... That is not a spiritual pill. It is a poison core."

"T-This is?"

Jin Sowoon's eyes trembled violently.

Yang Japyeong brought over a thick branch and stirred this way and that inside the Blood-Shadow Flower Viper's belly.

Then, when he saw something the size of a millet grain, he pointed at it with his finger.

"That is the spiritual pill."

At that, Jin Sowoon tilted his head with a doubtful look.

"... No, that just looks like a grain of rice that hasn't been fully digested."

"... Blood-Shadow Flower Vipers do not eat rice."

"No, I can definitely feel a sacred energy from this..."

Jin Sowoon lifted the poison core again as if he were certain.

But then...

HISS.

Strangely, white smoke was rising from his hand.

Of course.

That poison was that potent.

"What the hell is this!!!"

When Jin Sowoon hurriedly threw the poison core to the ground, the poison core dyed the dry leaves around it black.

"F-Fuck..."

The tips of Jin Sowoon's fingers had festered and turned red.

His skin had melted from the poison.

"Did I not tell you? I said the losses would be far more severe."

This was the awful part of the Black Forest.

Most demonic beasts that possessed spiritual pills gathered and consumed the majority of their spiritual power in their poison cores, so the spiritual pills themselves were small.

This was a law of nature for surviving the harsh environment of the Black Forest.

Because of that, the Black Forest had been able to become a forbidden zone untouched by human feet.

Still, Yang Japyeong thought it was not bad for them to try hunting one themselves.

No matter how much he explained, it was less persuasive than experiencing it with their own bodies.

Now they would stop going on about spiritual elixirs, spiritual elixirs...

"There are many creatures like this in the Black Forest, yes?"

"Th...ere are."

Jin Sowoon spoke with somehow expectant eyes.

"Everyone heard that, right? If we want to eat enough spiritual elixirs to be satisfied, we have to move diligently!"

Huh...?

He had not given up?

Yang Japyeong felt deeply uneasy and stammered.

"Y-You intend to keep hunting? Just for that?"

The amount of internal energy that could be gained from a spiritual pill the size of a millet grain would be minuscule.

"Of course! Have you not heard that specks of dust pile up into Mount Tai?"

"..."

Did they actually have enough time to make Mount Tai out of specks of dust?

The time the academy students would spend in the Black Forest was only one month.

But as Yang Japyeong watched Jin Sowoon clench a fist with a hand smeared in Blood-Shadow Flower Viper blood and raw from festering skin, he could not say anything.

'Has he caught some disease where he dies if he cannot eat spiritual pills?'

Because his eyes were already sparkling as if to say persuasion was impossible.

... Was that what they called madness?

In the end, Yang Japyeong gave up and decided to do as they wished.

They had caught the Iron-Armored Great Serpent, and they had caught the Blood-Shadow Flower Viper.

It seemed they were not the sort of people who would easily be swallowed up by the Black Forest.

In addition, he was also beginning to look forward to seeing how much skill they would show.

Yang Japyeong brushed off his knees and straightened himself.

"Understood. Then we must move a little diligently."

Yang Japyeong, who began guiding them that way, did not know that the Blood-Shadow Flower Viper's poison core lying on the ground had disappeared at some point.