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Translator: uly
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: The Jiangshi Have Changed
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Kiriririk! Kiririririk!
Kraaah! Grrrrng!
Shasha shashak!
Arm-thick bugs and beasts with four or six legs swarmed around Geon-woo.
Right now, Geon-woo was alone, separated from both the Jiangshi and Ilryeong.
This was the boundary between the Bears Territory Army's field and the demon-occupied zone.
Even though it was where the Bears Territory Army's domain overlapped with the demons' territory, low-grade creatures were already pouring out in droves.
The lowest-grade bug creatures and the beast creatures above them naturally moved in packs.
That was why no creature could be ignored, no matter how low-grade.
Get careless, and you'd be overwhelmed by sheer numbers, not even leaving bones behind.
"Man, they're coming at me like a horde. Well, small fry are all the same."
But even with hundreds of bugs and dozens of beast creatures charging at first glance, Geon-woo remained unfazed.
Numbers were scary, but if you could thin them out, they weren't much of a problem.
"Alright, let's split 'em up."
Kugugugugugu!
Geon-woo unleashed his psychokinetic force, erecting a dome that enclosed a 20-meter radius around him.
Kiriririk! Kwaaang!
It took only a couple of breaths for the wall to form and complete the hemispherical dome.
The bugs and beast creatures were thrown into confusion by the sudden change.
Either way, thanks to the dome he'd created, Geon-woo no longer had to worry about the endless waves of creatures overwhelming him.
"Come on, you little bastards. Ready to die now?"
There were still hundreds of bugs and about twenty beast creatures inside the dome with him, but that was no challenge for Geon-woo.
Kwajik! Kwajik!
"Bugs just need stomping."
Seogeok! Seogeok! Keuk! Kwaaang!
"Beasts just need slicing."
The bugs' teeth, venom stingers, and pincers meant nothing against Geon-woo, clad head to toe in magic armor.
It was impervious even to blades infused with mana—let alone low-grade bug creatures.
The same went for the higher-grade beast-type creatures.
Their teeth and claws couldn't pierce Geon-woo's magic armor.
Geon-woo ignored defense entirely, swiftly dispatching the bugs and beasts before opening one side of the dome to let more in.
The eager ones rushed in madly the moment the gap opened, and Geon-woo would let in a manageable number before sealing the wall again.
Then he'd kill them all, open the wall, close it, and repeat.
The creatures swarming toward Geon-woo were methodically cleared this way.
Finally, after drawing in enough bugs and beasts to fill the dome to the brim, Geon-woo...
Kugugugugung! Kwarurung!
"Phew, feels good to clear 'em out."
Collapsed the dome.
He then dragged the remnants of the shattered dome underground, as if sinking them into quicksand.
Naturally, not a single bug or beast survived the catastrophe.
There were creatures that survived being buried, but they couldn't escape the eyes of Geon-woo, who could probe the earth with his psychokinetic force.
Even those that clung to life underground couldn't claim the miracle of survival.
The surrounding soil and rocks suddenly turned into spears, severing their last breaths.
"Nice and clean."
After finishing off even the survivors deep underground where no one could see...
Geon-woo gazed at the spot where the dome had sunk into the earth, a relieved expression on his face.
He closed his eyes briefly and focused his mind.
White mist-like energy seeped up from the sunken ground and was absorbed into Geon-woo's body.
"Whoa! After all that, just 87 soul pieces? What a shitty return on investment."
Geon-woo, who had gathered the soul pieces by concentrating, grumbled with a frown.
He'd taken down over a thousand bugs and more than a hundred beasts here.
Yet all those creatures had yielded only 87 soul pieces, which was disappointing.
But...
"Eh, bugs and beasts are all like that. Tch."
They were the most worthless among creatures, so what could he do?
Soul stones were the energy demons used for dimensional invasions.
Every means the demons employed for invading dimensions relied on this soul stone energy.
Thus, even bug and beast creatures—the demons' foot soldiers—possessed trace amounts of soul stones.
That was how he'd managed to get even 87 soul pieces.
Geon-woo might gripe about a mere 87, but objectively, one soul piece was worth over ten million won, making 87 equivalent to more than 87 million won in cash.
That kind of income from a single fight wasn't bad at all.
No wonder hunters sprouted up like mushrooms among users.
Even if they couldn't match Geon-woo, pulling in just 3 soul pieces a day meant 30 million won.
Sure, you couldn't take them back to Earth without combining 100 into one soul, but smuggling even a single soul home netted over ten million won. Tempting stuff.
"But I'm not doing this for the money anyway."
Geon-woo muttered to himself and resumed walking.
He still had a long way to go to complete Lord Kolon's request.
This particular commission from Lord Kolon required pushing into the second line of the demon-occupied zone.
"This guy's got no consideration anymore—assigning me a job where I could die and respawn, something he wouldn't have dreamed of asking before."
Geon-woo grumbled as he recalled the details of Lord Kolon's request.
"Infected species? Aren't those supposed to be handled immediately by headquarters the moment they're confirmed? As far as I know, they're top priority for swift elimination."
Yet one had already claimed an entire field and was thriving.
And he'd been asked to deal with it.
"Anyway, Lord Kolon knows our Jiangshi a bit too well."
Geon-woo chuckled wryly, thinking that lords weren't just anyone.
Truth was, nothing countered infected species better than Jiangshi.
"I wonder how Ilryeong's doing."
As Geon-woo walked, his gaze drifted to empty air on one side.
Ilryeong and the Jiangshi were probably hunting somewhere off in that direction.
"Well, in a zone like this, leaving them to their own devices isn't bad. They'll grow on their own just fine."
But Geon-woo quickly shook off the worry and kept moving.
Bugs and beasts posed no threat to Ilryeong and the Jiangshi.
* * *
= My lord. We're back.
By the time Geon-woo had reached the boundary between infected species and regular creatures and set up a temporary base, Ilryeong returned with the eight Jiangshi.
"How'd it go? Get the teamwork sorted?"
= Yes, my lord. The liquor spirits are still an issue, but we've reached a point where hunting isn't a problem.
"Any changes in the Jiangshi's battle formations compared to before?"
= No, my lord. Their strength and agility have improved significantly, but the formations haven't changed much. The liquor spirits' physical abilities aren't entirely useless either.
"No skills for the liquor spirits yet, huh?"
= Yes, they haven't acquired any sorcery yet. My apologies.
"Not your fault. Blame the lack of suitable creatures around here. Jiangshi skills are a luck-of-the-draw thing anyway."
= Thank you for understanding. But there is good news.
"Good news?"
= Yes, my lord. In this short hunt, all eight Jiangshi reached their growth limits and accumulated maximum Jiangshi blood—a remarkable achievement.
"Huh? Already maxed out? So we can extract Jiangshi Pure Blood now?"
= Indeed, my lord. Allow me to offer them.
"Hahaha. I figured it'd take a month of hunting infected species here, but this is unexpected. What happened?"
Geon-woo beamed with genuine joy at the news of the Jiangshi reaching their limits.
The Jiangshi Pure Blood they produced was worth it.
= It seems the seven years steeped in those drugs had an unexpected effect. Their absorption rate is now twice what it was.
"Hmm. I see."
Geon-woo was surprised by Ilryeong's answer, but he also felt a new dilemma arise from this unprecedented situation.
Originally, Jiangshi other than Ilryeong were like consumables.
Best not to replace them if possible, but they weren't a big loss if circumstances forced you to swap them out.
But if seven years in stone coffins had given them something special, they couldn't be discarded lightly anymore.
= From now on, we should manage them with maximum preservation in mind.
Ilryeong offered the same advice, clearly having thought of it too.
"Yeah. Even if we have to abandon a Jiangshi, we'll prioritize securing the blood core going forward."
The blood core Geon-woo vowed to salvage in any situation.
It was like an inner core condensing all of a Jiangshi's energy.
If a situation demanded abandoning a Jiangshi, create the blood core first.
Then feed it to a new Jiangshi to inherit some of the original's abilities.
This reduced the risk of starting from scratch.
In the past, the hassle wasn't worth it since new Jiangshi weren't much different.
But now, with seven years of accumulated power and doubled absorption from creature corpses, it was too valuable to waste.
= Exactly. Their improved absorption means more Jiangshi Pure Blood overall. It warrants a change in management.
"Yeah. You're right."
Geon-woo murmured thoughtfully at Ilryeong's words.
Thanks to the 5,000 souls Ilryeong had stored being invested into his avatar, Geon-woo's current combat prowess matched what it was when he hunted Helpharis in the past.
But while his combat strength was similar, his avatar's capabilities weren't the same.
Back then, Geon-woo had traversed Onviroad with just a 1-soul soul stone, overcoming all sorts of hardships.
Even when hunting Helpharis, a demon noble, his avatar had been based on a 1-soul soul stone.
That spoke to how special his avatar was at the time.
But his current avatar had lost most of that uniqueness.
The reason a past 1-soul avatar matched the power of his current 5,000-soul-absorbing one?
The answer lay in Jiangshi Pure Blood—that special edge.
Thus, the value of Jiangshi that could now produce far more pure blood was immense.
Normally, once a Jiangshi hit its growth limit, pure blood began accumulating in its body, extractable after reaching a certain amount.
The Jiangshi condensed externally absorbed energy into pure blood at its peak.
Warriors of the Eon family used that pure blood to cultivate special martial arts.
They could gain steel-like bones, tough skin, or powerful muscles and tendons characteristic of Jiangshi by consuming it.
Of course, it required the Eon family's secret elixirs and matching cultivation methods—but Ilryeong could handle that.
That was how Geon-woo had taken down Helpharis, a demon noble, with just a 1-soul avatar seven years ago.