Chapter 326 - Hunting Divine Spirits

After that, we continued hunting without rest.

As if the reason he had moved slowly before was to avoid demonic beasts, Yang Japyeong began opening the way without hesitation.

When we moved so boldly...

“U-Uwaaah...!”

As if proving why the Black Forest was the Black Forest, demonic beasts sprang out at us.

Not only Azure-Scaled Golden Thread Snakes and Flying Centipedes, but even a human-faced spider we had not seen in some time.

Ah, of course, when we encountered the human-faced spider, Seong Moran fainted dead away.

Demonic beasts that were hard to see even one of in the Central Plains sprang out here at all hours, like rabbits living on a neighborhood hill.

‘Of course, rabbits don’t come charging at you with their eyes rolled back, trying to eat people.’

At first, the group members faltered because of their terrifying appearances, but as our prey piled up one beast after another, they gradually began to adapt, and with that, our hunting speed also grew faster and faster.

“This time, another one the size of a millet grain came out.”

The most dramatic change was none other than Seong Moran.

Even when she saw insects, she no longer shrieked in terror.

After seeing a human-faced spider, she said most things were now bearable.

But she had gone beyond merely bearing it.

“Whose turn is it this time? Dongryong?”

She was even taking the lead.

A pleased smile rose on my face on its own.

When Seong Moran skillfully took out the spiritual pill and handed it to Dongryong, he quietly stared at it.

Then Seong Moran thrust her hand even closer.

“Why are you waiting? Hurry up and eat it, then circulate your qi.”

“...”

Dongryong, who had been staring silently at the spiritual pill, soon turned his head toward me.

“... But Eldest Senior Brother hasn’t eaten a single one this whole time.”

At Dongryong’s thoughtfulness, emotion surged up in my chest.

Yes, this was why I was going through all this hardship for them.

Barely holding back tears, I patted Dongryong on the shoulder.

“What this Eldest Senior Brother wishes for is for you all to eat them and take one more step forward.”

“But...”

Seeing Dongryong wanting to give me the millet-sized spiritual pill, Seong Moran spoke in a voice laced with sarcasm.

“That’s not it, Dongryong. Even if he ate that, it wouldn’t even register for him anyway.”

“...”

“From what I heard, he ate spiritual pills from the Namgung Clan and even ate a spiritual pill from the Moyong Noble Clan, didn’t he? Haa... And here I was, worrying so much that the Iron Heart Pills might not be enough to heal the wound in his Dantian.”

Ahem. Where in the world had that confidential information leaked from?

They said in Jianghu that one must always hide seven-tenths of oneself.

I pretended not to hear Seong Moran’s words and said,

“Dongryong, this Eldest Senior Brother feels as if his internal energy grows just from watching you all eat, so don’t worry about me and eat it.”

In truth, my internal energy really was increasing.

Most of the demonic beasts that had spiritual pills also had poison cores larger than their spiritual pills, and I was secretly absorbing those.

Compared to spiritual pills, the energy itself was not large, but if I used the Jade Dragon Bracelet, I could draw plenty of internal energy even from poison cores.

Because of that, I did not need to bother eating millet-sized spiritual pills.

The problem was that using the Jade Dragon Bracelet was not convenient at all.

‘Haa, how many poison cores have I missed because I had to watch everyone’s eyes?’

If only I could move around alone, I could go back the way we came as much as I wanted, secretly use the Jade Dragon Bracelet, and return.

But in this kind of dangerous terrain, who knew what would happen if I wandered around alone just to eat those things?

No matter how out of my mind I might be, I could still make that much judgment. Yes, of course I could.

While my sighs only increased like that, a commotion rang out from below the hill.

“Hm?”

When all our group members, including me, lowered our heads and looked down, we saw nearly two hundred academy students moving together.

‘What is that?’

When I sharpened my eyesight and examined them, they were a mixed group of Orthodox Council and White Path Council members.

“What are they doing?”

“Indeed. They should have received an exploration mission... so why are they moving in a group?”

Just as Seong Moran and Eunho said, their actions were truly strange.

Rather than for exploration, it was as if they had organized themselves for a hunt.

Whatever was around them, they ruthlessly felled trees and cut grass to make a path, focusing only on moving forward.

“Ugh...”

Yang Japyeong let out a long groan, as if he knew something.

“I was wondering from the start why the instructors would order such a dangerous task...”

“Do you know something?”

“Hoo... It seems they mean to hunt divine spirits.”

I had no choice but to stiffen where I stood.

“Divine spirits?”

“I mean the Four Great divine spirits that rule the Black Forest. What on earth are they thinking?”

“Is that true?”

“Exactly. Why would they do something so dangerous...?”

Rage surged up to the crown of my head.

“Representative Jin, do not concern yourself too much—”

“There are... spiritual beasts in the Black Forest?!”

No, why were you only telling me that now?

“They really exist?”

“...”

Yang Japyeong stared at me with blank eyes.

If I had to put that gaze into words, it said, That was what you were curious about?

Suppressing my excitement, I asked again with courtesy.

“If there are spiritual beasts... they must have large spiritual pills, right?!”

“... Did you not hear me say it was extremely dangerous?”

“If they have spiritual pills, how large are they? If they are called the Four Great divine spirits, they must be enormous, right?”

“Um, Academy Representative?”

“Enormous... Heh heh...”

“Academy... Hey! Representative Jin! You bastard! Can’t you hear me?!”

“The Four Great divine spirits... Heh heh... The Four Great divine spirits, is it...?”

Yes, when would I ever build Mount Tai out of specks of dust?

Life was all about one big score!

“Listen! Representative Jin! Your eyes look strange right now! Do you understand?!”

Yang Japyeong, who did nothing but lie, could no longer be heard by my ears.

#

“Sun Marquis.”

“Heeheehee.”

“Blue-Snow Ice-White Snake.”

“Kahahaha.”

“... Ten-Thousand-Year Earth Bear.”

“Puheeheehee.”

“Golden-Armored Roc.”

“Pahahahahaha!”

“...”

Cold gazes pierced me.

I cleared my throat and managed my expression.

No, but I couldn’t help it if laughter burst out of me without my realizing it.

“These four are collectively called the Four Great divine spirits of the Black Forest.”

“Heeheehee.”

“...”

“A-Ah, I’m sorry.”

Yang Japyeong pressed hard against his temples as if his head were throbbing.

“... As I told you, these are not beings you can simply decide to hunt or not. To begin with, they are inhuman beings. They are not called divine spirits for nothing.”

Yang Japyeong spoke passionately.

“Furthermore, whether the divine spirits have spiritual pills has never once been confirmed. Do you know why?”

“I wonder.”

“Because not once has anyone ever succeeded in hunting one.”

“Not even once?”

Namgung Seonhwa asked as if surprised, and Yang Japyeong nodded.

“They are so clever they put people to shame, and on top of that, they possess the strength of demonic beasts. The Black Forest is also their own backyard, is it not? Forget hunting them—more often than not, people get lost while trying to track them.”

“...”

“If you say you will hunt a divine spirit, I will stop guiding you. No matter how much I must fulfill my duty, I cannot throw away my life.”

My excited emotions soon settled calmly, and cold reason returned.

If Yang Japyeong, who had readily helped with poison-resistance training and demonic beast hunting, was refusing this firmly, it meant it truly was dangerous.

No matter how tempting a spiritual elixir was, it was not something to move for while gambling with the lives of my junior brothers and group members.

I bowed my head lightly to him.

“Understood. I will accept Great Warrior Yang’s words.”

Yang Japyeong let out a long sigh of relief.

Just as we were about to put aside our regret over hunting divine spirits and move on...

“Eldest Senior Brother, people are coming this way.”

Some of the people hunting divine spirits approached us.

Those who appeared while cutting through the undergrowth were none other than instructors and academy students.

“Hm? I came to warn whatever weasel-like bastard was here to interfere with our hunt... Huh, to think the academy representative would come out.”

Noh Jinha spoke with his lips twisted in a sneer.

That ugly face had gotten even uglier.

“Why has an instructor who should be at the camp crawled all the way out here?”

“What? Crawled out?!”

As Noh Jinha tried to spring forward, Kang Taeha stopped him and said,

“... We came out to explore as well, while protecting the academy students.”

I pointed with my chin at the people dressed like hunters standing beside Kang Taeha.

“With guides who are specifically not from the South Fist Sect?”

One of the men dressed like a hunter frowned and stepped forward.

“The South Fist Sect does not know everything about the Black Forest. Rather, they can be seen as youngsters who merely guard the entrance.”

“Grrrk.”

Yang Japyeong seemed to know the men dressed like hunters, and he glared at them while grinding his teeth before growling at the instructors.

“Hunting divine spirits during the Great Journey...! What on earth are you thinking?”

“We are not cowards like you people, you see. Since we have come this far, should we not at least see a divine spirit’s face?”

“Hunting divine spirits is...”

“Ah, I will not listen if this is nagging. We have prepared for things like natural formations and the like.”

The people dressed like hunters added with sneers.

“To begin with, a natural formation is frightening only if you try to avoid it. You can simply push everything down.”

“Hah...!”

Leaving Yang Japyeong wearing an expression of disbelief, Noh Jinha turned his gaze toward me.

“Why is the representative, who should be exploring the Demonic Realm, still loitering around here? Could it be that you want to join the divine spirit hunt?”

After sharing a round of laughter among themselves, Noh Jinha opened his mouth again.

“Well? If you prostrate yourself and bow, I might consider letting you join the divine spirit hunt.”

“...!”

For an instant, my body twitched and sprang forward, but Eunho grabbed my arm just in time.

-Get a hold of yourself.

Whew, I nearly bowed.

That kid was sharp.

I brushed off the hem of my robe and shook my head.

“No, thank you. It is not as if divine spirits are neighborhood stray dogs. How could I trust stupid commanders and go hunting?”

“What!”

“Well, whether it is a divine spirit hunt or whatever else, do your best on your own. I sincerely hope you succeed in the hunt.”

After saying that, I turned around.

From behind me, I heard something like, “That damned bastard, I will definitely...” but I lightly ignored it.

After we had walked a little like that, Yang Japyeong came right up beside me, unable to hide his oddly excited air.

“You have thought this through well. Hunting divine spirits is absurd. It would be strange to call it a substitute, but... I will guide you as much as possible to places with many demonic beasts.”

Once we had put some distance between ourselves and Noh Jinha’s party...

I gripped Yang Japyeong’s sturdy shoulder tightly and asked,

“They definitely... cannot succeed, right?”

“Yes? Wh-what...?”

“The hunt... I mean the divine spirit hunt. They truly cannot succeed, right?”

“...”

Yang Japyeong’s expression somehow turned as black as completely burned charcoal.

I shook his shoulder fiercely and asked again.

“They truly, truly cannot succeed, right?!”

“...”

“Hoo... They absolutely have to fail.”

Otherwise, I felt I would be too sick with envy.

#

We continued hunting demonic beasts even as we headed toward the Demonic Realm.

There were demonic beasts I had seen in the Jianghu Spiritual Elixir Record or the Compendium of Ten Thousand Herbs, and there were strange demonic beasts I was seeing for the first time in my life.

As we gradually grew more skilled, hunting no longer posed much difficulty.

Everyone quickly grasped the tendencies of the demonic beasts, then acted while clearly knowing what they had to do.

Even without being told, they each went to their positions and helped with the hunt.

Later, they became able to hunt demonic beasts of small size or weak toxicity even without me.

Since Yang Japyeong exclaimed in admiration at our hunting speed, it proved we had become sufficiently trained in hunting demonic beasts.

By the time the seventh day and night approached, the group members no longer seemed to feel discomfort living in the Black Forest.

Perhaps because of the poison they had eaten to build poison resistance, no one was being bitten by insects anymore, and thanks to Eun Seollan, we could sometimes rest in cool comfort.

“Ice arts are truly wonderful...”

Yang Japyeong could not stop marveling as he drank cool water with a thin skin of ice on it.

Regrettably, I still had not been able to absorb poison cores.

After Geumpyo had once searched for a spiritual pill and nearly been poisoned by a poison core...

Yang Japyeong thoroughly removed the poison cores, buried them in the ground, and did not take his eyes off them until we moved on, so I could not find any chance at all to absorb them.

In the end, I decided to let it go to some degree.

The internal energy was a waste, but not enough for me to risk exposing the Jade Dragon Bracelet.

Then what caught my eye was none other than Yang Japyeong’s ability.

After spending close to half a month together, I came to learn something.

Yang Japyeong seemed able to estimate his direction to some degree.

There had been several times when we had avoided natural formations or been chased by demonic beasts, causing us to stray far from our original route, but each time, Yang Japyeong returned to our original route like a ghost.

When I asked him about this, Yang Japyeong grinned and answered.

“Of course, I can grasp direction and location to some degree.”

“But you clearly said no senses function properly inside here.”

“Of course. The energy of the spiritual vein is too great.”

“Then how does Great Warrior Yang find direction so well?”

Confidence appeared on Yang Japyeong’s face.

“All senses are disrupted and confused by the spiritual vein, but conversely, is there not one thing that is not disrupted?”

“Something that is not disrupted?”

Yang Japyeong pointed at the ground with his finger.

“The spiritual vein.”

“Oh!”

I let out a small exclamation without realizing it.

To think he used the very spiritual vein that disrupted all senses to find direction.

“The spiritual vein largely flows from the north toward the southeast. Of course, if one remembered even all the minute energies, one could come and go through the Black Forest as if it were one’s own backyard, but that is an impossible realm for humans. However, even if you remember only the major trunks of the spiritual vein and the flow of the spiritual vein, you can find your way to some degree in the Black Forest.”

There was indeed a reason the South Fist Sect had become the sect that managed the Black Forest.

“Then is there a separate method for sensing the spiritual vein?”

“Of course, anyone can do it. It is similar to a martial artist sensing energy. However, it is difficult with ordinary breathing methods.”

“May I learn how it is done?”

I asked cautiously, wondering if it might be something like a secret art of his sect, but Yang Japyeong readily answered.

“It is not that difficult. Ordinary internal mental cultivation methods store energy inside the body through the unity of essence and qi, do they not?”

“That is so.”

“Reading the flow of the spiritual vein uses qi and spirit. You extend all your senses through energy so that your spirit can sense the energy of the spiritual vein flowing beneath the earth.”

While Yang Japyeong continued speaking, I began circulating the Taiyi True Scripture.

Without sitting cross-legged or operating moving cultivation, I proceeded with the unity of qi and spirit as I was.

In an instant, my five senses expanded, and countless pieces of information began rushing in wildly.

From the fishy smell of demonic beast bodily fluids to the damp air I felt on my skin.

The sight of my group members as if seen in contemplation, and the sounds of battle coming from far away.

And even the chill of the cold water still lingering in my mouth.

After the information drawn in by my five senses passed...

RUSHHHH.

Something like the sound of vast flowing water began to come from beneath my feet.

A cold, frigid energy, as if felt through the skin.

No, it was not heard.

It was seen and felt.

An untouchably large and immense energy of the earth, too light to call water and too heavy to call air.

‘So this was it.’

The moment I finally realized what the spiritual vein flowing through the Black Forest was...

I slowly returned my five senses.

Because I now had to ask what to do next.

“... If you train like that for five years, you can sense the energy, however faintly.”

As it happened, Yang Japyeong was still continuing his explanation.

I asked him in a calm voice.

“I sensed the spiritual vein. What should I do next?”

“...”

Yang Japyeong, who had been speaking, tilted his head as if he had heard something unbelievable.

“What did you say?”

“I said I sensed the spiritual vein. What should I do next?”

“...”

For an instant, an indescribably uncomfortable silence began to flow.

“Why do you look like th...”

“...”

What was with this atmosphere?

Had I done something wrong again?

I scratched my cheek and looked around, but no one answered me.