Jeongal Hyemi, after finishing the ritual, returned to where her companions were waiting.
"Unnie! Are you okay? You look really tired."
Namgung Soran was the first to approach her, asking with a worried tone and examining her face.
Dark circles had formed under her eyes, and her skin looked a bit rough. The time she was gone wasn't long, but just as Namgung Soran said, her complexion, which had been healthy moments ago, was now so haggard it looked like she might collapse at any moment.
"Y-yeah, I'm okay. I just pushed myself a little. I'll be fine after a short rest."
No matter how many means were mobilized to lessen the burden, there was no way such a great miracle could manifest without any cost. It was probably a good thing it only ended with her being tired.
Ha Seung-hoon, who knew this better than anyone as one of the people involved, smiled gently and approached her, wanting to take care of her in some way since she helped ensure everything went smoothly.
"You've been through a lot, Young Miss Jeongal. Thankfully, it doesn't seem like there were any major issues."
"Ah, Young Master Ha. You're right. I just helped with one ritual, that's all."
"You seem to have overexerted yourself. Please, come and rest. I'll ask the attending Goblins if they have anything that can help you recover."
"Hahaha, thank you for your concern."
A faint smile appeared on her lips at his thoughtfulness. Just as a gentle atmosphere enveloped the two of them, Namgung Soran suddenly popped her head in, hugged her arm, and pulled her toward herself.
"This place has a lot of amazing things! I found something good when I was walking around earlier. It's a hot spring that has an excellent effect on not only relieving fatigue but also healing injuries, and because of that, it's apparently also great for skin care. I was waiting for you so we could go together, so it worked out perfectly."
Then she winked one eye and began to walk with a triumphant stride.
"So, Soran?"
"When else are we going to be able to come to a place like this? When you get an opportunity, you should do everything you can. And since we're invited guests, it's all free!"
"You're from a family with so much money..."
"It's good to be frugal when you can, isn't it? Besides, the currency used among the Yokai is different anyway. And I heard from the Fox staff member earlier. That place..."
Suddenly, she lowered her voice and leaned in close to Jeongal Hyemi's ear, beginning to whisper something. Although her realm was still a bit lacking to use a technique like Thought-communication, she was able to mimic it well enough that not a single sound leaked out.
"...Really?"
"For real."
"...Let's go."
"Okay, okay."
And with that, the two of them came to an agreement, said their goodbyes to Ha Seung-hoon, and hurried away. Horus mostly stayed in the dragons' quarters, so he didn't know all the facilities Golden island sect had, but it seemed they had heard something that piqued their interest.
He chuckled as he watched the two of them, who had disappeared together, side by side. He had been a little worried since she had just gone through such a huge ritual, but seeing them like that reassured him that she hadn't completely exhausted her energy.
'Well, there are definitely a lot of extraordinary things here from a human's perspective.'
As Namgung Soran said, a hot spring that made your skin better was just the beginning. There were bamboo shoots that made you taller if you ate them, foul-smelling incense sticks that could bring a dead person back to life, and flower buds that made you an invisible person if you rubbed them on your body.
'Wait, come to think of it, this isn't something to just laugh off, is it?'
His eyes narrowed as a thought suddenly occurred to him. His instincts as a Dimensional Merchant were telling him that there was a strong scent of money in the air. He had been secretly giving up on it because there were a lot of restrictions, but hadn't he now overcome that problem enough?
'I need to seriously think about this. This might just be...'
As Ha Seung-hoon was lost in thought, contemplating a new business model, a familiar voice was heard from the side. It was Mok In-gwang, who had been loitering around the group ever since he arrived on Golden island sect, as if he were bored. He claimed he wasn't bored and was just taking care of them under his master's orders, but his demeanor looked exactly like a busybody middle-aged man who interfered everywhere he went.
"A Fox? Ah, are you talking about the hot spring the young ladies just went to?"
"Well, that place is run by Fox Yokai, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about that young lady from before."
"Young Miss Namgung?"
Ha Seung-hoon tilted his head at the man's words, who was dressed in clothing that was more befitting of a Taoist. He probably wasn't calling her a real Fox Yokai, so it must have been a simple metaphor. If anything, she felt more like a puppy than a fox...
'No, they're both from the canine family, so... isn't that the same thing?'
Mok In-gwang glanced at the blinking Ha Seung-hoon, wore a sneer on his lips, and closed his eyes.
The realm he saw in Namgung Soran was first-rate. It was impossible for a girl who had just entered her late teens to already be a first-rate master unless she was a genius.
In fact, with the exception of a few masters of the Profound Realm who were outliers, the Transformation Realm was practically the supreme master's realm.
'I should consider this foolish monster guy an exception.'
Generally, considering that a great sect's elder is at the superb level and a martial force unit's leader is at the peak level, being first-rate was a position that was treated as an elite martial artist in any sect. In remote areas, it wasn't uncommon for them to even establish their own sect, raise disciples, and act as the head. It must have been possible because she was a direct descendant of a prominent family with talent, effort, and even abundant support.
The reason why a young lady of such a distinguished family, with outstanding abilities and exceptional looks, would leave the safety of her family to do something like this was...
"Hey, Heavenly Sword. I'm annoyed. Let's have a match."
"Excuse me? All of a sudden? And Heavenly Sword is..."
"Nonsense. The word Dragon is too good for you. Kh-kh-kh. A man like you wouldn't get scared, would he?"
"Ha. Very well. I was just looking for a chance to get some movement in anyway."
Mok In-gwang gnashed his teeth as he looked at the young man who was young, handsome, and even had a good personality, an attractive master by anyone's standards.
Isn't this too much! In what way was this guy a powerful person on par with him? He knew his own personality was bad, so he had never particularly cared about it until now, but since there was such a clear control group for comparison standing right next to him, he couldn't help but get angry.
'And he's the Heavenly Dragon Swordsman? What a cool name! While I'm still struck being called by the ridiculous title — Nine-Madness Demon!'
What was even more annoying was the fact that the thief who had stolen the title of "Mad Demon" from him had suddenly disappeared and wasn't doing anything, ever since the day of the world's restoration using the child of the dragon.
'Why did you take it if you weren't going to use it! Give it back if you're not going to use it, you son of a bitch!'
Of course, it was just a meaningless cry now. Ha Seung-hoon watched Mok In-gwang who was huffing and getting angry by himself, and shook his head. He thought that without Harley's physical therapy, his madness must have relapsed. He had no inkling that most of the other's stress was because of him.
'Well, if he's that eager, it'll be a great help in raising my Martial Zenith's proficiency.'
For all his faults, Mok In-gwang was also a master at the end of the Transformation Realm, looking toward the Profound Realm. There would definitely be a newfound understanding gained from exchanging martial art with an opponent at the same level.
'Besides, he'll be busy for a while anyway.'
He glanced in the direction of the Dragon God's Shrine and shrugged. Not only the Five Dragons, including Horus, but the other dragons as well would have a hard time paying attention to this side for a while.
Of course, they couldn't help it.
The bloodline of the Yellow Dragon, which had been completely cut off during the Great War when the entire Yokai race suffered fatal damage, had finally been fully resurrected.
"Here, do you want to try this?"
[Kyah-ung!]
"Awww! It ate it! So cute! So lovable! Again, do you want to eat more~?"
The mid-teen girl with long black braids, the Black Dragon, fussed and hopped up and down. Then she took out a faint glowing goblin fire from her pocket and cautiously held it out toward the small, round snout of the dragon.
Lick—
With that, the small Yellow Dragon blinked its round eyes and took it without hesitation. The sight of it constantly shaking its head and making chewing sounds caused the Black Dragon's lips to go slack.
"Ooh-hee-hee! It ate it again! Okay, then next is~"
"That's enough, Black Dragon. Hwiryung[1] was just born. No matter how good something is for it, excessive overeating will only harm it."
"...White Dragon, if you're going to say that, how about you put down the immortal fruit in your hand? You're not persuasive at all, are you?"
"Ahem."
The White Dragon coughed and turned his head at the Black Dragon's sharp-eyed response. But even as he did, he didn't intend to put down the peach-like fruit he was holding in his hand.
"Excuse me..."
Horus sighed softly at the farce unfolding in front of him and cautiously opened his mouth. However, he wasn't given a chance to complain about the current situation. The moment he opened his mouth, a sweet fruit went right in, causing him to chew on it without thinking, and he missed his chance.
"A cute thing next to another cute thing. Now this is a Heavenly sight."
"Ahem, ahem. Well, it's not bad."
"Red Dragon? Is that an image storage orb? Since when did you have that...?"
"Hmph! This is the moment a successor to the Yellow Dragon's bloodline, which had been completely cut off, has finally been reborn. We have a duty to record this moment and pass it on to future generations, Blue Dragon."
"Indeed, as expected of the Red Dragon. You speak the truth.
...You'll share it with me later, won't you?"
The size of a dragon's Yeuiju could be adjusted at will. From a small orb that could be easily carried in human size to a rock size that was convenient to hold in the mouth when transforming into a giant dragon. The Yeuiju used in this ritual was stored at a size of about two adult fists combined, so naturally, the size of the Yellow Dragon that was born from it was also small...
"Chomp, chomp. You're growing really fast, aren't you?"
[Kyang?]
Horus swallowed the fruit in his mouth and looked at the small dragon that was peeking its head out from over his shoulder.
The dull yellow body wrapped around the upper body of a six or seven-year-old boy had already grown from the size of a loach when it first came out of the Yeuiju to a proper snake.
'Well, it's not a normal life form to begin with, so I guess it's to be expected.'
It would have been the same even if they had made the Yeuiju to be hatched the size of a house from the beginning. The important thing was the energy that was put into it initially and the energy it consumed during its growth process afterward.
A grinning Horus gently stroked the head of the baby dragon, Hwiryung, with one hand.
'Don't get sick and grow big and strong.'
With his genuine touch, the creature closed its eyes and twisted its body, rubbing its head against his hand.
"Aaaah—."
"Huh? Blue Dragon? Are you okay? Get a hold of yourself!"
"...Red Dragon, it's a basic principle to store records that have a chance of being lost by dispersing them in multiple places. You know that, don't you?"
"Hmph, do I?"
He paid no mind to the noisy sounds coming from the sidelines and focused on the sense of unity he felt from Hwiryung. It wasn't just because of his affection for the child that was born because of him.
'This is the true power of the Yellow Dragon's Orb.'
He could feel it. The invisible thread of fate/bond that connected him and Hwiryung as he presided over the ritual.
Woo-woong—
A faint energy flowed from Horus's fingertips. It was a power that came from the newly born Hwiryung, but it wasn't borrowed from the child.
'It was just added to me in proportion to its growth. Plus, this power is similar to the Yeuiju.'
In other words, the child's very existence was another Yeuiju to him. A Yeuiju that could amplify a dragon's abilities to the extreme was an artifact that could only be used one at a time, unless it went against the heavens.
Hwiryung's head shook from side to side at his touch, which came with a satisfied smile.
'He's a complete totem.'
Right now, he was just a baby dragon, but since he was born with an extraordinary nature, his growth speed was also unusual. The more this child grew, the greater the power he could handle would become.
It was an ability that was not granted to the other dragons who became the pillars of the ritual, nor to Jeongal Hyemi, who served as a priestess mediating with the Dragon God.
It was his alone to use.
'That's not all. Right now, there's only one Hwiryung, but if I can increase the number of Yellow Dragons, and if I can safely raise those children...'
Just how strong could Horus become? A single breath that went through one Yeuiju blew away all of Beijing. That power... if it were to be multiplied many times over with a second and third amplification was something he couldn't even dare to imagine.
However, he couldn't put his plan into action right away.
Blue Dragon, who had gone to check on the situation at the Penitence Cave at his request, showed a look of difficulty.
"We used most of the energy we had stored up in the ritual just now. To be honest, the operation of the Phantom Realm is tight as it is. Of course, since the Yokai living in the Phantom Realm can now freely go outside, it will recover given enough time, but..."
Even with that in mind, it meant it would be impossible to do it anytime soon.
In this unavoidable situation,
Horus...
'So I just have to solve the energy problem, right?'
...did not give up.
If you can't do it, make it happen.
He recalled the words of a great ancient sage.
He returned to his room, and fell into quiet contemplation while stroking Hwiryung's head. He recalled the memory of completely emptying the warehouse of the demonic cult, the egregious evil organization that had repeatedly destroyed and plundered, driving this world to the brink.
A comfortable home of my own located in the outskirts of Seoul.
"...And then."
I sat in a chair in front of my computer and let out a small sigh. Then I looked down at my feet and muttered quietly.
"Ah... Why are you here?"
[Kyuu?]
Hwiryung blinked its round eyes and tilted its head at my bewildered gaze, still wrapped around one of my legs.
[1] Yellow dragon hatchling