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Translator: uly
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Infected Jiangshi Blood
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"Now that you've secured the Jiangshi Pure Blood, you can resume cultivating the Yanga Jiangshi Technique. With my limited insight, I can't even begin to guess how much stronger you'll become, my lord."
Ilryeong floated in the air a step ahead of Geon-woo, pressing his hands together and bowing deeply at the waist as he spoke.
At times like this, when discussing the Yanga family's meditation arts or martial techniques, Ilryeong would show this reverent demeanor.
"Last time, I started taking Jiangshi Pure Blood from the 2nd Star of the Heavenly Brain Separation Spirit Control Technique, but this time I'm consuming 9th Star-level pure blood right from the beginning. That should let me advance the Jiangshi Technique much faster."
"Indeed, that will surely be the case."
"On top of that, I've already absorbed 5,000 souls into my avatar, bringing my abilities back to about the same level as before."
"If the Yanga Jiangshi Technique reaches the 9th Star on top of that, my lord's achievements will be beyond imagination."
Ilryeong wore a proud expression, as if envisioning Geon-woo's future self.
"Yeah. But for that to happen, you all need to keep hunting without any mishaps. That puts a heavy responsibility on you, Ilryeong."
"Have no worries, my lord. What makes the infected creatures so fearsome isn't just their ability to infect living beings, is it? As you know, jiangshi are the natural predators of infected creatures."
"Of course. But don't forget that creatures infected by them don't get any weaker than before infection. Jiangshi simply have no penalty from infection, but that doesn't give us a massive advantage in combat."
"Even so, isn't it true that once infected, they become a bit stupider than their original forms? If we can just target and eliminate the command entities, they'll be easier prey for us than other creatures of the same grade. Unlike users or Onblood residents, that is."
"Right. If you keep that in mind and act accordingly, I won't have much to worry about."
"I will ensure you never have cause for disappointment, my lord."
"Got it. That's enough. I'm starting to sound like I'm nagging. I'll trust you, Ilryeong."
"Yes, my lord. Thank you."
Ilryeong bowed deeply toward Geon-woo once more from midair, reaffirming his resolve.
"I'll leave the infected creature hunts to you. Meanwhile, I'll hunt here and focus on training the Heavenly Brain Separation Spirit Control Technique and the Yanga Jiangshi Technique, so you'll have to handle the heavy lifting."
The Yanga Jiangshi Technique was the cultivation method that allowed one to absorb Jiangshi Pure Blood and transform the body with its energy.
Once Geon-woo's proficiency in the Yanga Jiangshi Technique reached a certain point, infected creatures would no longer be a concern.
But with this new avatar, he hadn't learned the technique at all yet.
So he decided to leave the infected hunts to Ilryeong and the jiangshi, while he hunted uninfected creatures here.
As Geon-woo was about to send Ilryeong off, he suddenly remembered something he needed to do and turned to him.
"Oh, right. What about the soulstones we've gathered so far?"
"Here they are, my lord."
When Geon-woo asked about the soulstones, Ilryeong summoned them just as he had in the previous waiting room and held them out.
"Hmm. A bit over 4 souls?"
Geon-woo muttered as he gauged the amount of soulstones he'd received from Ilryeong.
"It seems that when we extract soulstones, we only get about half the amount compared to you, my lord. My apologies."
"I've barely gathered under 3 souls coming all this way by myself, and you've collected over 4. How could you apologize for that?"
"You moved alone, my lord, while I led eight jiangshi and still only managed this much. How could I face you?"
"We didn't wander around hunting everything in sight—we just took out what we ran into on the way here. Gathering this much is already impressive."
"..."
"Oh, and there's some good news you'll like."
At Geon-woo's words, Ilryeong cautiously met his eyes.
"I might reach the 10th Star of the Heavenly Brain Separation Spirit Control Technique soon."
"Pardon? The 10th Star?!"
Ilryeong's eyes widened in disbelief as he echoed the words.
"I thought I was stuck at the 9th Star too, but lately during cultivation, it feels like the core technique could break through to the 10th."
"How could such a thing... As I mentioned before, my lord, in our Yanga family, only the founding patriarch ever reached the 10th Star of the Heavenly Brain Separation Spirit Control Technique. Later descendants even suspected he deliberately left it restricted at the 9th Star."
"I think the change in my avatar created the opportunity to shatter that 9th Star wall."
"The change in the avatar..."
"I used to have a 1-soul avatar, but now it's 5,000 souls."
"If that's truly the case, then seven years ago, I should have let you absorb the soulstones instead of storing them."
Back then, Geon-woo had all the soulstones from creature hunts stored with Ilryeong.
At the time, absorbing a soulstone would fuse it directly.
But he thought that if he did, there'd be no way to hand them over to Neuron Age once he returned to Earth.
So he'd entrusted the soulstones to Ilryeong as a safe storage method.
Later, he learned Ilryeong could store them without absorbing or fusing, so it became the natural choice.
Plus, early on, Ilryeong's unstable state needed soulstone absorption for stabilization.
That was why Geon-woo had still been a 1-soul avatar even when hunting the Helparis.
"Hey, back then, I poured soulstones into you to fix your instability. You think I'd regret that now? Don't say silly things!"
"Yes, my lord."
"Alright, now go hunting. I'm really looking forward to these infected creatures this time."
"Understood, my lord. I'll be quick."
"Do your best. But don't push too hard."
"Trust me, my lord. I'll be off."
At Geon-woo's reminder, Ilryeong bowed deeply once more in farewell, then led the jiangshi away from the base.
The base, formed by earth manipulation, lay about twenty meters underground, but a slanted passage led to the surface.
* * *
The Yanga Jiangshi Technique involved consuming Jiangshi Pure Blood and using its energy to transform the body.
Thus, the technique's achievements inevitably depended on the quality of the base jiangshi.
In that regard, Geon-woo's mastery of the Heavenly Brain Separation Spirit Control Technique up to the 9th Star had perfectly removed one major obstacle to progressing in the Jiangshi Technique.
At the 9th Star, he could command even living jiangshi—the pinnacle of the Yanga family's jiangshi—so there was no worry of the jiangshi's quality suffering from any deficiency in the core technique.
The problem in Onblood was the lack of materials needed to create jiangshi.
As a result, the jiangshi Ilryeong made were only mid-grade by Yanga family standards.
Far from living or soul-linked jiangshi, they topped out at iron-bone jiangshi level.
That didn't mean iron-bone jiangshi were to be taken lightly.
As the name implied, their bones were as hard as steel, and their skin was tough and resilient enough to resist most blades.
On top of that, they possessed muscle power dozens of times that of an ordinary human.
Having refined such jiangshi using the 9th Star Heavenly Brain Separation Spirit Control Technique elevated them far beyond standard iron-bone jiangshi.
Geon-woo cultivated the Yanga Jiangshi Technique by consuming the pure blood produced by these exceptional jiangshi.
Once the technique reached his level from seven years ago, his avatar would gain physical abilities on par with the jiangshi.
And that was on top of the avatar's inherent physical enhancements.
* * *
"Huuuuh!"
Geon-woo, seated in the lotus position cultivating the Yanga Jiangshi Technique, exhaled deeply and opened his eyes.
This was the final breath of cultivation, expelling the impure energies accumulated in his body as he awakened.
Crunch-crunch-crunch!
To feel the bodily changes from his rising proficiency in the Jiangshi Technique, Geon-woo clenched his right fist.
A strange frictional sound, like thick leather being crushed, emanated from it.
If he'd gripped a pebble in his hand just now, it would have turned to dust and scattered.
"The Jiangshi Technique is advancing faster than I expected. Too fast, even. Is this thanks to absorbing souls into the avatar too?"
Geon-woo muttered to himself, unable to hide his serious expression.
He had begun suspecting his avatar's state shortly after logging into the new Onblood.
Not only was his avatar's power growing at an incomprehensible speed, but even the wall of the Heavenly Brain Separation Spirit Control Technique was crumbling.
Geon-woo suspected whether these phenomena were truly just from soul fusion.
It was because, before returning to Earth in the past, he'd had the experience of fusing 4,000 souls into soulstones from Ilryeong.
Even then, he'd felt a noticeable rise in his avatar's abilities.
But that change was nowhere near as dramatic as what he felt now.
"Why the huge difference this time?"
It was common knowledge among users that fusing more souls into soulstones enhanced an avatar's potential.
And that insufficient potential slowed avatar growth—this was now established theory.
But he'd never heard of effects this profound.
"There has to be something to it."
Feeling his physical abilities surge from the heightened Jiangshi Technique proficiency, Geon-woo resolved to uncover the reason.
But that was for later.
Not now.
"My lord. Have you finished cultivating?"
As Geon-woo acknowledged he had to set aside his questions about the avatar for the moment and gathered his energy, Ilryeong entered the cultivation chamber.
"Yeah. I've even finished absorbing the Jiangshi Pure Blood."
Geon-woo nodded.
That meant the Yanga Jiangshi Technique had reached its current limit.
To advance further, he'd need higher-grade Jiangshi Pure Blood.
"Then what of the Heavenly Brain Separation Spirit Control Technique? It seems you haven't broken through the 10th Star wall yet."
"Yeah, it feels like it's right there, but it just won't go."
"In our family's centuries-long history, no one after the founding patriarch ever achieved it. Seeing the possibility alone is remarkable—no need to rush or get impatient, I believe."
"I desperately want to reach the 10th Star, but I'm not stupid enough to force it. Don't worry. By the way, how'd that go?"
Geon-woo asked about the task he'd given Ilryeong during the infected creature hunts.
Ilryeong immediately understood what he meant.
"Haha, rejoice, my lord. As you said, the infected creatures do indeed have those treasure goblin-like entities."
"Any success?"
Geon-woo brightened at Ilryeong's response.
"Yes. At last, the jiangshi can partially use the infected creatures' abilities."
"Just like I described?"
"Exactly. It's now possible to infect creatures using jiangshi blood."
That meant the jiangshi could now influence creatures.
This was something he'd been anticipating ever since learning about the infected demon.
"What happens to creatures infected with jiangshi blood?"
"They recognize jiangshi as allies and act alongside them."
"So they treat whatever attacks a jiangshi—or whatever a jiangshi attacks—as enemies and go after them?"
"Yes, my lord."
"That's great."
Geon-woo grinned, imagining the jiangshi spreading jiangshi blood to infect creatures and bolster their forces.