Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

When I said I would go to the spirit creatures’ district, Senior Sister raised her eyes and looked at me like she couldn’t believe it.

Surprise and worry swirled together in her blue eyes.

“You’re saying Junior Brother will personally go to the land the spirit creatures have occupied?”

“Yes, Senior Sister.”

And as if to confirm it, she asked again, then waved her hands like she’d gone crazy.

Her slender fingertips trembled as they cut through the air.

“No. It’s too dangerous there. I can’t send Junior Brother to a place like that, because of me, because of me. No matter how high Junior Brother’s realm is, if spirit creatures come rushing in large numbers, you absolutely won’t come back safely.

Fine, then I’ll go instead. If I take on the form of a spirit creature, I won’t be treated as an enemy.”

Senior Sister wasn’t wrong.

The Nine Heavens of the Heavenly Realm’s Lower Heavens were a chaotic land where spirit creatures, the Demon Tribe, and human cultivators fought a three-way war.

If a high-realm cultivator suddenly set foot in the spirit creatures’ territory, there would definitely be a massive disturbance.

Most spirit creatures had strong territorial instincts.

If one of them sensed a threat, it would call its kin, and it would be an instant for them to swarm in a pack.

I, too, had a body that had surpassed the Life-and-Death Realm, but in front of endless numbers, I could never relax.

Still, if Senior Sister took on the form of a spirit creature, she could be relatively safe.

Because they would recognize her as the same kind of spirit creature, there was a good chance they wouldn’t be hostile.

Even so, it was absolutely impossible for Senior Sister to step forward personally.

First of all, Senior Sister’s spirit-creature form was extremely limited in movement.

Only if the river and streams that ran from the district’s boundary all the way to the sea of the Nine Heavens were connected without breaking could she barely move.

If there was even a small place where the waterway was blocked, she would end up trapped without being able to do anything.

And even if she moved along the waterway and only changed back into human form whenever the path was blocked, another danger could arise.

The Blood Market Tower was a place that bought and sold people and spirit creatures.

There was a high possibility that spirit creatures bearing a grudge, who recognized Senior Sister, still remained.

They said that in the past, travel and trade between districts had been frequent, so the moment her identity was exposed, her life and death would become precarious.

On top of that, Senior Sister was the Tower Master of the Blood Market Tower.

A body that had borne countless responsibilities while protecting this place for long years.

If she left her post for long, everything could collapse.

Even when I wandered the Central Plains on a boat, how much of a headache had it been just to manage one small boat?

Even though Hwa-eun took on most of the work, big and small problems never stopped.

How much more so if it was the Blood Market Tower?

From information gathering and auctions, to personnel management, to running Baegya Fortress, it was so vast it was suffocating just to imagine.

Chief Steward Mong-a was competent, but she was only an executor, not a decision-maker.

If the Tower Master left her post, no matter how outstanding the talent, there would be limits.

With a face that said it absolutely couldn’t happen, I shook my head.

“But Senior Sister isn’t in a position to be away from the Blood Market Tower for long, is she?”

“Th-that’s true, but...”

“Besides, if there’s a spirit creature that recognizes Senior Sister, it’s an even bigger problem. It feels like you might have secretly caught wild spirit creatures or Demon Tribe members from the spirit creature or Demon Tribe districts and sold them, too...”

“Kgh.”

Maybe because my words hit painfully close to home, Senior Sister’s face twisted for a moment.

She wouldn’t be unaware of that danger, either.

With a serious gaze, I continued.

“And Senior Sister, Senior Sister has something you need to do here.”

At the words that she had something to do, Senior Sister tilted her head.

Senior Sister asked back.

“Something I need to do?”

“Yes. I mean the work of normalizing this Blood Market Tower.”

“Normalizing?”

As if she still hadn’t realized the deeper meaning of my words, Senior Sister tilted her head again.

But Baegya Fortress and the Blood Market Tower clearly desperately needed normalization.

Up until now, the Blood Market Tower had been forced to endure dark dealings in order to maintain the barrier, but it had become corrupted from a good pet shop into a black market that sold tonic-food ingredients.

A place that originally even carefully examined the character of the person adopting, now doing adoptions without asking the intended use, was practically the same thing as having turned into a place that sold tonic-food ingredients.

It had been the same in my previous life, too.

Originally, the Central Plains had one of the largest rare animal and pet markets in the world.

But behind that, there was also a dark side stemming from the Central Plains people’s habit of eating everything except the table.

The most famous was the record that most of the pangolins poached around the world were consumed in the Central Plains.

For food, that is.

Nodding, I said calmly.

“Right now, the people and spirit creatures traded in the Blood Market Tower are mostly being used as ingredients for other people’s realm advancement, aren’t they. But now Senior Sister’s realm has recovered quite a bit, so even without me, for a while you’ve become able to fill the artifact’s energy without strain.

So now we have to set it right.

This place was originally a bridge where spirit creatures and people formed bonds with each other and lived together. It’s time to reestablish that beautiful intent.”

At my words, Senior Sister’s eyes grew wider and wider, and at last she covered her mouth with a trembling hand.

Soon, a sob burst out like she was wringing her chest.

“H-huh... h-hic. Wh-why, why is Junior Brother such, such a good person?”

It was a wail with gratitude and a sense of release mixed together.

For long years, in order to protect those entrusted to her, she had to endure dark dealings she didn’t want to do.

At the words that she could finally put down that heavy burden and carry out the original intent, it seemed all her emotions burst out at once.

“Thank you, Junior Brother. Hic. Thank you.”

“You’ve suffered all this time, Miss.”

“Hic hic. H-hic.”

As Senior Sister kept pouring out thanks and crying, Chief Steward Mong-a approached and wrapped her arm around Senior Sister’s shoulders.

Then Mong-a performed a deep clasped-fist salute toward me.

“I, Mong-a, am a body that serves no one but Miss, but if there is ever a time when this worthless thing can be of use to Elder and Elder’s family, I will not spare even this worthless thing’s life.”

The tears gathered at her eyes told me.

That the loyalty that had protected her master for long years was bursting out as emotion in this very moment.

I thought it would be enough if I only got Senior Sister’s permission, but the Senior Sister who had stopped crying shook her head.

“I gratefully received Junior Brother’s heart and consideration. But even so, I can’t send you there. Now you’re practically the last blood family I have left, so how could I send Junior Brother to a place like that just so my own body can be a little more comfortable?

The spirit creatures there are extremely hostile toward humans themselves.”

Her voice trembled slightly.

I thought she had been moved and thus gave permission, but it didn’t seem to be that.

It was sincere worry.

‘No, on the surface it’s that, but I’m going to fulfill my own personal desire, too.’

I had to treat Senior Sister, but I couldn’t openly say I had another purpose.

It was extremely awkward, and then it happened.

Smoke puffed out of her nose as Soyeon appeared.

She was in human form, wearing armor.

“Master.”

“Soyeon, what brings you here?”

“The wives told me to quietly come see if Aunt-Master is okay. They said if you’re treating her, it might interrupt you, so they couldn’t ask in the group chat room thing.”

“Ah, tell them they don’t have to worry because she isn’t sick.”

“Okay, Master.”

I wondered why the kid suddenly came out, but it seemed she had come to check the situation on this side, and just as Soyeon was about to disappear, a good idea suddenly came to me.

Looking at the kid, I thought of a way to ease Senior Sister’s worry.

“Ah. Right?”

I quickly drew up the energy of the Iron Shell Art.

In an instant, my whole body was dyed blue, and my skin began to change into rough armor like Cheongwol’s shell.

My face, arms, even my neck were covered all over in a cracked rock-like texture.

“Would you feel a bit more at ease like this?”

“Th-that appearance is?”

“It’s using the ability of the spirit creature registered to Heavenly Deep Abyss Poison Mureung Path... I changed my skin into a spirit creature’s.”

If I went with my skin changed like this, there would be less suspicion.

In a way, this form was close to the half-human half-beast stage, or the humanoid half-beast stage, of a spirit creature’s transformation.

They would definitely think I was a high-realm spirit creature.

Senior Sister fell silent for a moment, then looked at me with her mouth slightly open.

Her expression looked like her sense of reality had come loose.

When she came to her senses, she asked haltingly.

“Ju-Junior Brother, what on earth do you think Heavenly Deep Abyss Poison Mureung Path is?”

“Huh?”

At Senior Sister’s sudden question, I was flustered, and then Senior Sister’s voice, just as flustered as mine, continued.

“Th-that martial art isn’t that omnipotent. I’ve never seen or heard that it had an ability like that.”

‘Ah, then did this come into being as it mixed with the Five Poison Sect’s martial arts?’

Somehow, this ability felt like it was born as the Five Poison Sect’s martial arts and Heavenly Deep Abyss Poison Mureung Path mixed together.

But well, that wasn’t important.

Either way, with this, there wouldn’t be any problem exploring the spirit creatures’ territory.

“Anyway, with this, it’s fine for me to go and come back, right?”

At my question, Senior Sister finally nodded.

Like she couldn’t help it.

At that nod, I finally felt relieved.

‘Whew. It was hard to get permission. No, why is it harder to get permission from Senior Sister than from a wife?’

Looking at Senior Sister nodding, I had that thought for a moment.

That rather than adding one more Senior Sister, it would be better to add one more wife.

With wives, ‘forgiveness is easier than permission.’ If you just cause an incident first and then get forgiven, that’s that, but Senior Sister was too hard to make understand.

***

Sure enough, getting permission from the wives was easier than persuading Senior Sister.

When I said that in order to treat Senior Sister, I had to go to the sea in the spirit creatures’ territory and look for a highly venomous jellyfish, everyone accepted it.

Though, because they saw through the hidden intention inside it, permission became forgiveness.

“So you’re saying that to treat Ancestor, you need a poisonous water beast, right?”

“That’s right. The fact that Master’s only blood family has to be in a state like that doesn’t sit well with me, so I must go.

Even if I might not be able to find it, since someone like an older sister is living like that, it doesn’t sit well with me.”

“Ah, so you’re going to treat Ancestor’s illness and while you’re at it, you’ll also look for poisonous things there and stuff like that, right?”

“Well, something like that.”

“So-ryong really doesn’t change at all. Well, they said if you change, it’s when you’re about to die, did they?”

“That’s right. Wives, wives, you know me too well... Huh-eok!”

I spoke with an extremely serious, sorrowful expression, but I got caught immediately.

But well, I’d already promised Senior Sister I would fix it, so permission—no, forgiveness—was granted.

“Up ahead is the spirit creatures’ territory now.”

“Then shall we try it as prepared?”

“Yes.”

Three days later, I arrived at the boundary between the spirit creatures’ territory and the humans’ territory, bringing Chief Steward Mong-a and trustworthy cultivators from the Blood Market Tower.

They said that far away, the valley carved out along the border was the natural boundary.

I quickly changed my body into Cheongwol’s shell-like form and, as prepared, dashed toward the boundary.

“Then we begin.”

“Yes.”

When I threw my body with lightness art, the cultivators waited there for a moment, then followed after me and began firing off spells.

“Ice Orb!”

“Fireball!”

Ice beads and balls of fire flew left and right.

As they fell around us, they made huge explosions.

-KWA-KWANG! KWANG!

Making a disturbance on purpose at the border like this was to stage that I was a spirit creature that had mistakenly ascended into the human territory and was being chased.

Like Soyeon.

Since the boundary between the human territory and the spirit creatures’ territory surely held a strict guard, we decided to act like a spirit creature being pursued.

While acting like I was dealing with a few pursuers I had received in advance—pretending to take them out with loud-only talismans, or taking a ball of fire in the back—and just as I leaped over the valley, it happened.

A large pack of brown wolves appeared and blocked my path behind me.

They were wearing clothes—spirit creature cultivators.

-Grrrr 『How dare you human bastards invade the spirit creatures’ territory!』

“T-this. It’s the spirit creatures’ territory! Fall back!”

“Fall back!”

The human cultivators fell back quickly at the response just as expected.

After they disappeared, I spoke with an expression of gratitude.

“Thank you. I ascended in a half-human half-beast body and fell into a place with only humans, and I was being chased. Where I was, those human bastards weren’t like that... These ones are aggressive, aren’t they?

Since I don’t know the situation, I can’t just kill them recklessly...”

Then one brown wolf that came closer to me wagged its tail like a puppy and spoke.

-Wow. 『A high one has suffered hardship, I see? The Nine Heavens of the Lower Heavens are in a standoff where spirit creatures, humans, and the Demon Tribe face each other.

Now that you have entered the spirit creatures’ land, you don’t need to worry.』

“Thank you.”

-Wowoo. 『Lower your speech. When a high one raises their speech to me, I don’t know where to put myself.

From your appearance, you seem to be an insect-type spirit creature? That side has many unusual shells.』

“That’s right. I’m a Stone-Armored Centipede. I’m called Sogap.”

“I’m Oran.”

The brown wolf pack leader’s name was Oran.

It felt like he was some kind of squad leader of a border guard that guarded the boundary here, and when we arrived at a nearby cave—maybe this cave was their base—Oran spoke to her subordinates.

“I will escort this Elder to a nearby town and return. So even while I’m gone, guard the boundary well!”

“Yes!”

It seemed like she would guide me to a nearby town, but while I followed Oran and walked down the road, when we arrived at a secluded place, Oran looked at me with half-lidded eyes and spoke.

-Kkiing. 『Elder. It might feel strange to say this, but in this cultivation world, it’s a relatively common thing, you know?』

“Huh?”

At her half-lidded expression and sudden words, I tilted my head, and along with a hesitant voice, a suggestion came.

-Nk. 『I also saved Elder from a predicament...』

“I’m grateful for that. If there’s a chance, I will naturally repay the favor...”

-Kkiiing. 『Th-then is that so? Then think of it as repaying the favor, and if it’s okay... would you mate with me?』

“Huh?”

-Kkiiing. 『It’s time for me to breed, so I’m looking for a strong male. If you grant me the favor, I would gratefully receive your seed.』

‘You... you were a female?’

Senior Sister worried I’d be in danger.

Ah...

In the spirit creatures’ land, it seemed that a “strong male” meant I had to be careful in a different way.

Because I was an alpha male.

‘Damn it.’