Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

Ranghyang’s registration made it night for a moment, but maybe because it still wasn’t real night, the light soon returned.

When all the starlight vanished, I looked at Ranghyang and swore I’d properly show him the stars.

How badly did he want to see them, for his ideal world to be stars?

As his caretaker, this wasn’t something I could ignore.

’I should also look for a way for Ranghyang to see.’

This was the cultivation world.

High-level Law Arts or Dao Techniques were no different from divine abilities, so there had to be a way for Ranghyang to see.

I even felt like I needed to check that before how to separate Gungbong from the Heavenheart Abyss Poison-Grove Sanctuary, or how to keep feelings of liking me from sprouting.

After patting Ranghyang’s head once, I decided next to register the Crimson Poison Harpoon Snails, seniors Yeoncheon and Yeonji.

”Seniors, you two are next.”

[Hehe, are you talking about us?]

[Then we might be able to get around a little faster.]

The two of them were happy, because they already knew that if they got registered, they could live in human form.

For snails, they were unbelievably fast, so maybe they longed for speed—either way, they were delighted by my suggestion.

”Then I’ll start right away.”

When I stepped closer to them and thought of registering them, a fog like bubbly foam surged up and swallowed them.

It seemed the smoke that burst out felt a little different depending on the nature of the poison creature.

Sometimes it was smoke, sometimes it was light—when it faded a moment later, a man and woman in their thirties emerged from inside the foam-like fog.

Both of them had hair with a dark red tint, and their defining feature was their clear eyes.

They were a well-matched pair.

From the way they’d been speaking up until now, I’d felt a lot of age in them, so I’d been imagining a grandpa and grandma, but in reality they didn’t look that old.

Senior Yeonji spoke with a delighted expression.

[Oh my, Honorable Husband, you look so wonderful. Just like Hwamu-jin from back then.]

[The wife is beautiful, too.]

Senior Yeoncheon, still awkward with his hands and feet, pulled Senior Yeonji into an embrace.

”You two suit each other.”

”Right.”

The moment the transformation ended, the two of them immediately started being sickeningly sweet.

They stuck close affectionately, looking at each other, delighted.

If they looked like they were in their thirties, that wasn’t too late an age.

Somehow, it felt like we’d be hearing good news in Dokmul-hyang again before long.

With how lovey-dovey they were, it wouldn’t have been strange if they went straight into mating tonight.

I closed my eyes and let them be sweet in peace, and decided to check what terrain had been added.

’Let’s see. Where is the two of their ideal world?’

When I closed my eyes and examined what had been added to Dokmul-hyang, what came to mind was a high mountain.

A mountain similar to the one that had been added earlier with Soto was added right next to it.

It felt like I could call them Dokmul-hyang’s twin mountains.

The presence of the high mountain was overwhelming, but the odd part was this: two terrains should have been added, but it was one.

Maybe because they were a married couple, the two of them were looking at the same thing.

As I thought it would be nice if I could live drawing the same ideal world with my wives like that, I examined the mountain, and realized that mountain had been formed by their two ideal worlds mixing together.

Around the eighth ridge line, something similar to the place where Podarlap Palace was built had formed.

It seemed that the clear lake on the eighth ridge line of that high mountain was probably their true ideal world.

Since it was a place that cleared the heart and mind enough for the head seat of Buddhism to exist, it felt like it would be good to make it something like Dokmul-hyang’s sacred mountain.

It even felt like later, when I was receiving worship, it would be fine to build a shrine there.

’Later, it’d be nice to build some kind of shrine.’

Next, I registered White Snow Shell Sunbaek and Baekbaek.

The two of them let out a kind of energy like when you drop dry ice into water, and when that faded, a mother and daughter with white skin and white hair revealed themselves.

Not white skin like a Westerner—white skin whiter than albinism.

Their skin was so pale and white that they didn’t look human, like they were some other kind of being.

—Bbeu. 『Is this what we look like?』

—Bbeeaee. 『I became like Sister Hyang too.』

Sunbaek looked fascinated by becoming human, and Baekbaek, like she didn’t care about skin color at all, looked happy that she’d become like Hyang.

And the terrain added by the two of them was a mountain where winter had arrived, and an ice cave.

The terrain added by Sunbaek first felt like an ordinary mountain in the Central Plains, but the memorable part was how soft snow had piled up and snow-flowers bloomed on trees and grass.

Since she was a spirit creature that lived in cold places, a place that was cold through all four seasons seemed to be her ideal world.

Up until now, the two of them had been living in the terrain that had formed from Seol, Bing, and Dong, but it seemed like it would be good to move their dwelling over there.

And what Baekbaek added was an ice cave.

Maybe because she was still young, and it was the place where she’d lived safely, she seemed to think of it as her ideal world.

Both terrains would be very helpful for gaining yin energy, and for anyone who needed yin-based power, they would be a big help.

’Not bad.’

Next in line, I registered Ram.

Ram looked like a mischievous little child, and the added terrain was a crystal cave.

Twin-Blossom Orchid Mantis Sandan became a beautiful woman in tasteful pink clothes, and the terrain she added was a field where colorful lilies were in full bloom.

A flower field would help the Golden-Furred Wasp King friends too.

And Blackwood Locust King Changcheon became a man who looked like some lonely ascetic.

Just like his usual personality, he looked extremely taciturn—and at Bini’s question, everyone burst out laughing.

—Tsrut. 『Uncle Changcheon, are you mad?』

—Chwaruk. 『What?』

—Tsrurur. 『No, it’s just... you look like you’re mad...』

The terrain that followed him was a plain on a plateau.

It was a place with just the right humidity and wind, like mushrooms would grow well there.

Silver Fish Yeon-yeon looked like some kind of sleek-looking woman.

And sure enough, her eyebrows were thin and faint, and even the armpits you could glimpse between her fluttering clothes had no hair.

So she felt like she’d be smooth.

Gun Hye-rin type, maybe?

A forest packed dense with blue sandalwood trees—the kind of trees used in the Central Plains to make paper—was her ideal world.

Maybe because she was a silverfish that liked fabric or paper.

And when I registered the last one, Thunderquake Earth Ant Panda Ant Rimrimi, a wide plain spread out.

A broad field where grass grown up to your head made a shaaa sound.

It felt like it would be good to grow crops later, but even after registering everyone—aside from the three Exploding Jade Aquabug babies, I’d registered everything from Ho-ye to low-grade turtle spirit creatures, even the bombardier beetle Yeolbi—my realm still didn’t rise.

’Ah. It feels like I’m just a little short.’

But since it only felt like I was a little short, I quickly brought in the other spirit creatures, my disciple Soyeon and Mongyeong, and registered them.

I’d been thinking whether there were any other spirit creatures, and when I thought about it, those two were the ones left.

I didn’t know what would happen if I did duplicate registrations on the kids registered to Sister Seol, so I couldn’t register them.

And the three Exploding Jade Aquabug babies were left, but I couldn’t register those kids either.

They were still newborns, so if they changed into human form, it was obvious they wouldn’t be able to adapt.

”M-me too?”

”Yeah.”

Soyeon took the same form as when she transformed using a magic treasure.

The terrain additions ended with a deep sea forming in the ocean created by Ji-ryeon.

Mongyeong, the rat snake, transformed into a look like he was wearing entertainer clothes, and even his face had that kind of entertainer vibe.

The added terrain was a streamside with big rocks scattered here and there, the kind of place rat snakes liked best in a life before my last.

Because rat snakes were the kind of snakes you often found on flat stones near homes or washing places.

”Ah, even like this, it’s not going up.”

I wrung out and registered even the real last of the last kids, but the most important thing—my realm—wouldn’t budge.

”Is it still far?”

”It feels like if I register just one more, it’ll go up...”

It really felt like a cup was already full of water, and if you dropped in just one more drop, it would overflow and my realm would rise, but it felt like I was missing that one drop.

What was left inside Dokmul-hyang was only Sister Seol, and Mirang, but I thought of the two of them and then shook my head.

A human woman was, no matter what, a problem.

If she fell for me, it would be a problem.

If things went wrong, I could end up with another wife.

What I wanted was more spirit creatures, not wives.

Well, since this was the Immortal Realm, even if I increased spirit creatures, I did have to worry about wives increasing, but still.

And on top of that, Sister Seol was already in a state of liking me, so absolutely not, and Mirang had been learning martial arts lately, but her realm was low, so it didn’t feel like she’d help much either, so I dropped the thought.

”I guess I’ll have to go out and catch one.”

”Go out?”

”I should look for one I like in the Land of Spirit Creatures. Mongyeong, let’s go with Myoran once. You two have a way to go somewhere safe that’s different from your usual hideout, right?”

—Shiiik. 『Of course. We just need to look for poisonous poison creatures, right? Snakes or insects are fine too?』

He had a vibe like he’d figured out my preferences in the meantime.

Since I was thinking I had to capture one spirit creature I liked even if I had to tear through the Land of Spirit Creatures we went to last time, I quickly pulled out of my mind and said to Senior Sister.

”Senior Sister, about spirit creatures... Ah, no. Even if I’m in a hurry, there’s an order to things. Senior Sister, is there a Law Art that lets someone who can’t see, see?”

Even if I was in a hurry, showing Ranghyang the stars came first.

When I asked that, Senior Sister tilted her head and asked back.

”Someone who can’t see? Are they injured? Or were they born that way?”

”Born that way.”

”That kind of thing has to be made directly by asking a magic-treasure craftsman. And it probably has to be made above the Nine Heavens.

Not being able to see is usually considered a heavenly punishment, but even so, if they must see, then someone with low skill can’t make it.”

”Ah-ha.”

Thankfully there was a method, but it seemed you couldn’t get it here in the Nine Heavens.

But we were going to rise to the Eight Heavens anyway, so it wasn’t a problem.

If I waited a bit, this would be solved, and then next was Sister Seol.

I asked carefully.

”Senior Sister, is there a way to separate and send off a spirit creature that’s connected to the Heavenheart Abyss Poison-Grove Sanctuary?”

Then Senior Sister asked back with slightly startled eyes.

Since spirit creatures were beloved kin, mentioning abandoning a spirit creature—the one thing a spirit creature’s beloved kin should never do—must have shocked her like that.

Originally, abandoning a living creature you’d taken in wasn’t something a caretaker should do.

”Who are you trying to cut off?”

”Yes, there’s a kid who got registered wrong...”

”I don’t know. But Father, Mother, and Aunt-Master will know. They’re the ones who made it together with Father.”

It felt like if I wanted to cut off Gungbong, I’d have to find Master.

Since we had hot springs, it would be a shame to cut him off completely, so I asked the next thing right away.

”Then is it possible to stop the wrongly registered kid from liking me? It feels like it’s turning too blindly...”

At my words, Senior Sister nodded.

With an expression like she found it admirable.

”So it looks like Junior Brother wants complete trust between people? That’s a mindset worthy of being my junior martial brother. Trust is something you must build with a true heart.”

So that was why she looked like that—she seemed to think I was trying to build a real trust relationship myself, not a fake heart made by the Heavenheart Abyss Poison-Grove Sanctuary.

”R-right.”

When I nodded, Senior Sister spoke with a face that said not to worry.

”I’ll teach you. That.”

”Thank you.”

With that, it felt like Gungbong was completely solved.

Lastly, I said we needed to go to the Land of Spirit Creatures.

”Ah, and Senior Sister, is it okay if I go to the Land of Spirit Creatures for a bit?”

”Huh? Why there?”

”Ah, even though I registered all the spirit creatures I have, my realm didn’t rise. It feels like I need one more spirit creature to raise my realm, so I was going to catch one there.”

It was the moment I explained the details.

I thought she’d obviously permit it, but Senior Sister’s face turned firm.

For the first time since I’d met her, Senior Sister shouted with a stubborn expression.

”No!

How can I send Junior Brother back to that dangerous place again? Absolutely not! And on top of that, raising your realm is to put White Night City inside the Heavenheart Abyss Poison-Grove Sanctuary, so that means it’s because of me, right? Absolutely, absolutely not.”

Senior Sister was so firm it was enough to fluster me.

”Ah, no, th-that... But White Night City...”

When I stammered, Senior Sister frowned, then clapped her hands and said,

”I know how you feel about me. But the Land of Spirit Creatures? After sending you there, do you know how many sleepless nights I had? Another way... Ah! Right. If it’s spirit creatures, then there is one, so let’s register that spirit creature.”

”Oh! There’s a spirit creature?”

It seemed like she had a spirit creature hidden away.

When I asked happily, Senior Sister smiled sweetly and pointed at herself.

”Yes. Right here. I’m a spirit creature too, you know?”

”?”

At those words, question marks rose up ruthlessly.