Chapter 55
Because I’d spent a short time mingling with a pair of lowly, mischievous spirits, I must have been affected by them and gone a little insane.
Still, I eventually came to my senses—better late than never.
“I was wrong. Baekho, I didn’t understand how you felt. Please accept my apology.”
A quick apology to Baekho.
What a noble, praiseworthy spirit he was.
He said he’d bring me youngcho—and not just any kind, but one that could increase divine power!
A wave of emotion washed over me.
‘Then, as planned, I will present the youngcho to my master.’
“I’m not sure if I should be receiving something like that.”
Everything was fine—until that point.
‘It wouldn’t matter. If not for you, Master, no one else would be able to take or eat it anyway.’
That statement made my growing emotion falter.
No one else could take or eat it except me?
Why?
The answer soon came from Baekho himself.
‘A creature I’ve never seen before appeared and started guarding the youngcho. The monument is practically my home, but I never imagined such a thing was living there. The problem is—it’s far stronger than I expected.’
In short—Baekho couldn’t beat it.
So, since he couldn’t get the youngcho himself, he was passing the problem to me.
And still, he had the nerve to make it sound like he was doing me a favor.
I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
Of course, I knew better.
Baekho wasn’t giving it up because he couldn’t win.
He was doing it for my sake.
‘Let’s go retrieve it right now.’
Following Baekho, I stepped into the monument—and found not just his home, but an entire world within it.
He said the youngcho was located at the top of the tallest mountain inside.
Up to that point, I still trusted Baekho’s sincerity.
But when I climbed that great mountain and saw the creature guarding the youngcho, I had to change my mind.
When he said “a creature guarding the youngcho,” I’d imagined something like a serpent—a spirit beast fond of spiritual herbs.
But it wasn’t that.
It was an imugi.
“You’re telling me to fight that thing?”
I couldn’t close my mouth for a while.
An imugi.
It was my first time seeing one up close.
And that’s why I was so shocked.
It might have been called a serpent, but in appearance, it was unmistakably a dragon—just missing its yeouiju (dragon pearl).
And in that instant, I realized what the youngcho before it really was.
“It’s not youngcho at all—it’s cultivating a yeouiju.”
So that’s how a dragon pearl could be born. I never knew that.
Well, there are more unknowns about dragons than known facts, after all.
Perhaps this was just another piece of their mystery.
Still, putting that aside—
“…Creepy.”
The space inside the monument had been crafted by Baekho himself, using a technique he’d learned from an immortal.
In other words—it was his private domain.
Which meant this imugi was living here illegally—a trespasser in someone else’s home.
It hadn’t outright stolen anything, but it was basically a thief.
“Are you sure you didn’t know about it?”
Could it be a hidden friend?
Or something he’d been secretly raising to eat later?
They say serpents and spirit beasts—especially imugi—are excellent for one’s health.
Baekho, however, firmly denied it.
‘I truly didn’t know! If I had, would I have let it grow this large? The stronger it gets, the more likely it is to take over my home!’
He had a point.
An imugi grows stronger the closer it gets to becoming a dragon, while Baekho—aging—had been gradually weakening.
Just from how his entire body bristled in disgust, it was obvious: if he’d known, he would’ve dealt with it long ago.
“All right, fine. Let’s move on.”
My gaze turned to the imugi.
Just as we watched it, it had already noticed us and had been staring our way.
It didn’t seem wary at all.
I interpreted that as—
“So, you’re confident, huh?”
Confident it could drive us out, even though the rightful owner and I were standing right here.
And as expected of a high-ranking spirit beast, it seemed to understand what I said.
The imugi suddenly let out a noise—a sound like laughter.
Shwaaaa—
It didn’t bother me.
But Baekho, the owner of the house, didn’t take it well.
“Grrraaaah!”
He roared furiously in response.
The imugi answered with another hissing laugh.
I nodded as I watched.
“All right, then. You two fight. I’ll just go home.”
And I really did turn to leave without hesitation.
There was no youngcho anyway, so I had no reason to stay.
A yeouiju might have similar effects, but I didn’t want to take what wasn’t mine.
Sure, the imugi had trespassed, but seeing how much effort it had poured into raising that pearl, I couldn’t bring myself to steal the fruit of its labor.
It hadn’t harmed me, and I didn’t need it, so I’d let the two handle their own dispute.
With just one condition.
“But—fight all you want, just don’t aim to kill each other.”
They might not like it, but trespassing isn’t punishable by death.
However, if the imugi tried to harm Baekho, I couldn’t stand by.
Baekho was my subordinate—and this whole situation had started because of the imugi.
Breaking in was bad enough, but attacking the homeowner? Unacceptable.
So, I decided to stay and watch the outcome.
Since both beasts kept glancing at me uncertainly, I took the role of referee.
“All right. On three, you start.”
One, two… three!
The imugi didn’t budge, clearly ignoring me.
But Baekho—
“ROAR!”
Like a general charging at the king’s command, he leapt at the imugi.
His momentum truly befitted the king of beasts.
But that was all it was—momentum.
No matter how fierce one’s spirit, it’s meaningless if strength doesn’t follow.
Thunk!
Before he could even get close, Baekho was blasted backward by the imugi’s spiritual pressure.
And the same thing happened again and again.
It couldn’t be helped—Baekho had given up all his spiritual energy not long ago.
He had gained divine power in exchange and even strengthened it with youngcho, but he still had a long way to go.
“He’s probably not even a tenth of his former self.”
I’d never seen Baekho at his peak, but it wasn’t hard to imagine.
As a mountain god–level spirit beast, that was his baseline.
And from that, I understood—
Why the imugi had stayed hidden until now, only to reveal itself at this moment.
“It came out after seeing Baekho weaken.”
The trespassing might have been tolerable, but that was infuriating.
It could’ve just kept hiding, but instead, it appeared the moment Baekho’s strength waned.
That reeked of bad intent.
And sure enough—
“Would you look at that?”
Despite my clear warning not to go for the kill—
Shhhhhh!
The imugi ignored me completely, lunging with jaws wide open toward Baekho’s throat.
“ROAR!”
Thankfully, Baekho leapt aside and dodged with ease.
He might lack strength, but his agility was as sharp as ever.
The imugi attacked again and again, but the results were the same.
Perhaps frustrated—
Shwaaaaa!
The air grew heavy as killing intent flooded from the imugi’s body.
That proved to be its fatal mistake.
“A creature training to become a dragon, and it opens its killing aura over something this petty?”
At that point, there was no reason for me to stay uninvolved.
The only question left was—how should I intervene?
After a short thought, I made my decision.
“It’s a house problem, so the owner should handle it.”
I looked to Baekho.
If he just had a bit more divine power, he could easily subdue the imugi even now.
In other words—I just needed to give him mine.
Normally, that would’ve been impossible.
Even if one could receive divine power, using it freely was a completely different matter.
But Baekho could do it—because, like me, he practiced Jahashin-gong.
“Baekho, I’ll lend you my divine power. Don’t resist—just accept it.”
Those who trained in Jahashin-gong could share divine power at will, even across distances.
That was one of the reasons it was known as a divine art.
“ROAR!”
Baekho accepted the power I sent—and then, an unexpected transformation began.
His bones and joints twisted audibly.
Crack, crack, CRACK!
It was a grotesque sound that sent chills down my spine.
Even the imugi, in the middle of its assault, recoiled in shock.
It looked painful enough to make me flinch—
Yet Baekho’s face remained calm.
When the transformation reached its peak—
“ROOOOOAR!”
A thunderous roar burst from him, shaking the mountains themselves.
I had to cover my ears from the sheer volume.
But what shocked me most was something else.
“Two… legs?”
Baekho, who should naturally stand on four legs, was now standing on two.
And it looked completely natural.
The reason was obvious.
‘It’s like he’s become human.’
Just as Baekho said—though still covered in fur—his body had become humanlike.
His face was unchanged, but his physique was astonishing.
And somehow… familiar.
“Where have I seen that before?”
Before I could recall it, someone else spoke first.
‘A Guardian Deity!’
It was the imugi.
Wait—so you can talk?
Still, I agreed.
A Hobeop Sinjang—the tiger guardian deity often seen at temples.
That’s exactly what Baekho resembled.
Not perfectly identical—his fur color differed, and unlike the armored deity statues, Baekho was bare.
Still, the resemblance was undeniable.
Two powerful legs, broad shoulders, straightened back—
The very presence of a divine guardian radiated from him.
“I should probably get him a suit of armor to go with that.”
Baekho’s lips curved faintly, as if he’d heard me.
Then the smile vanished.
He lowered his head and growled at the imugi.
And the imugi’s reaction—
Did it just lower its eyes?
“Heh. Scared, are we?”
