Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

I tilted my head at Cheongwol’s behavior, then figured she was planning to do the realm increase while lying down.

Humans sit in a lotus position when raising their realm, but Cheongwol was a spirit creature.

Humans sit in a lotus position because it’s the posture that best activates the dantian, but since Cheongwol was a spirit creature, a different posture would suit her better.

And it was obvious Cheongwol would know that best.

Spirit creatures would instinctively know things like that.

Judging by how she was lying down, it seemed that was the posture that fit Cheongwol the best.

‘So she really is a spirit creature, huh?’

Nodding to myself, I gave Cheongwol instructions.

“Then lie down and keep your mouth open.”

I couldn’t exert physical force here, but I could take things out of my jeomuldo.

So if Cheongwol was lying down, I was planning to drop Spirit Stones from above.

Right into Cheongwol’s mouth.

At my words to lie down and open her mouth, Cheongwol tilted her head.

—Krng? 『Mouth?』

“Uh, and can you swallow something big if you have to? I’ve got some concentrated stuff too. It’s your first time—will you be okay?”

Cheongwol didn’t eat food.

A spirit creature that lived by eating only energy.

So I was asking whether she could swallow anything.

She had to swallow Spirit Stones and yeongju, but since she wasn’t a creature that ingested things by mouth, I thought she might not even have an organ for eating.

At my question, Cheongwol spoke in a horrified voice.

—Krrrng. 『From what I heard from Unmirang, I heard that’s something you do when the realms between those two have to rise...』

“Huh?”

I didn’t know why Unmirang was suddenly coming up, but what did she even hear, and from who, when she didn’t know a thing about martial arts or Dao techniques?

Tilting my head, I said,

“No, you do this so your realm rises.”

—Kreuk. 『Ah, so it’s not that high-realm people do that, but that you do that so your realm becomes high.』

“Right, right.”

What on earth did she hear and come back with, when she didn’t know the first thing about martial arts?

Unmirang wouldn’t talk like she knew something she didn’t, so I had a feeling Cheongwol heard some completely different story and came back like this.

Cheongwol wasn’t a kid familiar with human culture.

I understood, but I was making a dumbfounded face when Cheongwol squeezed her eyes shut, opened her mouth, and said,

—Krrrng. 『I, I’m ready.』

“Okay.”

I didn’t know why she was closing her eyes, but I pulled out the yeongju first, anyway.

If I wanted better training efficiency, it was better to drink yeongju first.

—Clink.

I couldn’t drop the bottle with yeongju straight into her mouth, so I dropped it onto the rock next to her.

Then I brought it to Cheongwol and told her to drink it.

“Cheongwol, drink this first.”

—Krng. 『Huh? Already?』

Cheongwol, flustered at being told to drink yeongju first, opened her mouth and started making little gulping motions.

She wasn’t a goldfish, so why was she suddenly doing that?

From earlier, she kept making a face like she had no idea what I was doing, then Cheongwol slowly opened her eyes.

After confirming what I looked like, she started saying something weird, then suddenly froze.

“Why are you still like that? Take your clothes off—”

Cheongwol stared at the yeongju bottle that had fallen beside her, and her eyes started trembling.

Then Cheongwol’s face turned bright red.

So even spirit creatures’ faces get red when they’re in human form, huh, I thought—and then Cheongwol suddenly covered her face and screamed.

—Krng! 『Kyaaaah!』

At the scream, like her qi and blood had suddenly reversed or something, I flinched hard.

“Wh-what is it!? What’s with you all of a sudden!?”

I shouted, asking what the hell was going on, but Cheongwol, covering her face, didn’t react at all.

Then, for about the time it takes to steep a cup of tea, Cheongwol stayed still like she was dead.

With her face still covered, Cheongwol spoke in a tiny, fading voice.

—Krrrng. 『...I thought it was dual cultivation.』

“Dual cultivation?”

At those words, it was like a misaligned set of gears snapped into place, and I finally understood what Cheongwol’s words had meant.

This kid—when I said I’d raise her realm, she apparently thought I meant I’d raise it through dual cultivation.

Since I raised all my wives’ realms through dual cultivation too, it was obvious she heard “I’ll raise your realm” and just assumed it meant dual cultivation.

They say in this cultivation world, as long as both sides are certain the other is safe, they really do dual cultivation freely when it’s needed.

When it comes to dual cultivation, this immortal-hero world is American style.

The most important thing in dual cultivation is safety.

If the one condition is met—whether you can trust the other person—then it benefits both sides, so there’s no reason not to do it.

I didn’t know if Cheongwol had heard that too.

Or... did she think it was obviously dual cultivation because she liked me too?

Since the thing with Sister Seol was only yesterday, the moment that thought hit me, my head started spinning.

Cheongwol was part of that wave of women too.

No—was she a female seal?

‘No, then the mouth? Huuuuueck!’

Once I thought it through, I felt like I understood why she opened her mouth, too.

I made a horrified expression, then quickly fixed my face.

Because Cheongwol looked like she’d be embarrassed.

Wasn’t this the kind of thing that made you kick your blanket at night?

I was thinking about Spirit Stones, but she was thinking it was dual cultivation, and even seemed to be imagining a pretty high-difficulty technique.

A difficulty level I hadn’t even done with my wives.

‘What the hell is Unmirang teaching a kid who doesn’t know anything?’

I was in the middle of wondering what to do when—

Cheongwol grabbed the yeongju bottle with one hand, opened the cap, and chugged it down in big gulps.

Then she held that hand out toward me again.

—Kreuk. 『Spirit Stones.』

At that, I quickly placed Spirit Stones into her hand, and the one holding them said,

—Krrrng. 『Nothing happened between us. Th, that’s right, isn’t it?』

She was so embarrassed she was trying to pretend it never happened.

I answered quickly, reading the room.

“R-right. Nothing happened.”

Spirit Stones went into her mouth one after another, and at some point, light began to shine from Cheongwol’s body.

***

I left Cheongwol with Cho.

“Cho, I’m counting on you.”

—Tsrut. 『Okay, Dad.』

Cheongwol was shining with light and had returned to her original form.

It looked like her realm was rising.

Just in case, I told Cho to guard her, then went to find the second spirit creature.

Past the desert and into a mountainous terrain.

It was a cave off to one side.

As soon as I stepped inside, I heard the sound of water droplets falling from above.

—Plink, plink.

And after passing through that corridor where droplets fell, I reached a wide inner space, and a place appeared where torchlight flickered.

The spirit creature I had come to find was up ahead, examining something with a person in front of her.

I waved at that spirit creature with a pleased expression.

“Cheong-yu Sojeo.”

Cheong-yu Sojeo, who had been checking something about the person, ran over this way with a happy expression.

I had come to meet Cheong-yu Sojeo, the one in charge of this place.

—Shia. 『So-ryong. What brings you here?』

This was the darkest place in Dokmul-hyang, a cave where people were imprisoned.

A place researching whether Spirit Pills could be made without killing people, and it was where the Senior Sister’s subordinates we caught last time were being held.

Since the Spirit Pills had already started forming, it couldn’t be stopped, so these were people who were going to be kept here, then we’d harvest Spirit Pills once and release them.

Of course, we weren’t treating them ruthlessly without human rights like before, and right now they were all put to sleep.

We’d take only the Spirit Pills without pain, release them, and then use Spirit Stones to restore their original realm—something I already discussed with Senior Sister.

“Ah, realm...”

I had come to raise her realm.

I was about to answer that, but then I remembered what happened with Cheongwol.

If I just blurted out “realm,” I thought Cheong-yu Sojeo might misunderstand too.

“I’m done raising my wives’ realms, so I came to raise Cheong-yu Sojeo’s realm too. With ‘Spirit Stones’ and ‘Spirit Pills.’”

This time, so she wouldn’t misunderstand like Cheongwol did, I made sure to clearly mention Spirit Stones and Spirit Pills.

Then Cheong-yu Sojeo said in a cheerful voice,

—Shia. 『So I’m first? Good. I’ll be able to help you more, So-ryong.』

Cheong-yu Sojeo was happy that I was raising her realm first, but honestly, that was only natural.

Cheongwol had the best defense, so if something happened, it was reassuring to entrust defense to her, and if Cheong-yu Sojeo’s realm rose, it felt like the fighting power of the other snake spirit creatures would rise along with her.

Right now, Cheong-yu Sojeo could make snake spirit creatures grow, and she could do that only once.

But if things went well, maybe she could do it twice.

Cheong-yu, Orange, Heukhwa, Baekhwa, and on top of that, Hwanji and Hwana, and even Mongyeong, the rat snake I’d taken in recently.

Just from Cheong-yu Sojeo’s realm rising, the realms of six snakes could rise together.

Of course, that included Kkomuli too, the baby of Yeondu and Orange.

Even if she failed and doing it twice was impossible, Cheong-yu Sojeo’s foundation was that she was a descendant of a god.

After going through Ji-ryeon’s incident, I realized that even the “appearing immortals” mentioned in the Classic of the Plain Maiden, which Ji-ryeon had described as a trashy adults-only erotic book, were real immortals, so Fuxi and Nüwa would obviously exist as well.

So her potential would be higher than the other kids.

It was right to raise her realm faster than anyone else.

That’s why, between Cheongwol and Cheong-yu Sojeo, they both competed for priority when it came to realm increases, and the only reason I raised Cheongwol first was because there were so many kids to protect.

If not for that, Cheong-yu Sojeo would have been the obvious choice.

Smiling at Cheong-yu Sojeo’s words, I said,

“You’re already helping a lot as it is.”

—Shiaa. 『Then when do we do it?』

“Right now?”

—Shia. 『Sure, there’s no reason to delay. Then here?』

“Ah, but is it okay to just leave those people like that?”

I was about to raise Cheong-yu Sojeo’s realm right away, but thinking about it, I wondered if it was okay to just leave those people there for a while.

At my question, Cheong-yu Sojeo nodded.

—Shii-a. 『Yes, it’s fine.』

I immediately brought Cheong-yu Sojeo to the center of the cave and had her sit in a lotus position.

“Sit here in a lotus position.”

—Shia. 『Will I return to the Gold-Crowned Lion King Cheong-yu body?』

“Ah, looks like Cheong-yu Sojeo learned from Zihwa too.”

—Shi. 『Yes.』

After Zihwa joined us, the most helpful thing was that since she’d been a high-realm spirit creature, she taught the kids the ability to return to their true forms inside Dokmul-hyang, or change parts of their bodies into their true-form features.

Once you ate Spirit Stones and entered the stage where your realm rises, your body would naturally return to its original state.

With a look that said it was fine, I said,

“It’s fine. Once your realm rises, it’ll change automatically anyway.”

—Shii. 『Okay.』

The moment Cheong-yu Sojeo sat in a lotus position, I dropped a bottle of yeongju between her legs.

—Thud.

“Drink this first.”

—Shi. 『Okay.』

“And after that, eat these.”

—Shiii. 『Okay.』

After that, I dropped Spirit Stones between her legs, and after drinking the yeongju, Cheong-yu Sojeo started eating the Spirit Stones.

Spirit Stones vanishing into her mouth at high speed.

As the Spirit Stones melted away and disappeared, I kept taking out more and dropping them, and it was at the moment I had taken out almost all the Spirit Stones from my jeomuldo.

Only when there were about one or two Spirit Stones left did Cheong-yu Sojeo’s horns—now changed into the Gold-Crowned Lion King body—begin to flash.

It looked like her realm was finally rising.

All my wives had raised their realms, and all the kids who could raise their realms had raised them too.

Now I decided to wait for Cheongwol, Cheong-yu, and Zihwa’s realm rises to finish.

Because only after the three of them completed their realm rise would my own realm rise.

The reason I induced my wives and the other kids to raise their realms was so I could raise my realm one more stage and put White Night City inside Dokmul-hyang.

‘Whew. A lot happened, but anyway, it’s over.’