Chapter 56
“Ha! Look at that—you’re scared.”
No matter how I looked at it, the imugi (lesser dragon) was definitely intimidated.
So much for its earlier arrogance and composure.
I chuckled.
There was no point in dragging the fight any further—its spirit was completely broken, and the outcome was already decided.
I turned my attention to the white tiger (Baekho), curious to see what he would do next.
Whatever happened from here on out depended entirely on his decision.
And sure enough, Baekho seemed every bit the spiritual beast that had once cultivated in the Celestial Realm.
Even though the imugi had trespassed and even opened a death realm, Baekho showed no signs of wanting to retaliate in kind.
Rather, the moment the imugi lowered its head, Baekho grew even calmer.
That alone was proof enough that his cultivation ran deeper than the imugi’s, who sought to ascend into a true dragon.
Perhaps the imugi realized that as well.
‘I’ve lost. Please, show mercy.’
The imugi not only lowered its head but outright declared its surrender.
And from that moment, it looked willing to concede almost anything.
Baekho, however, appeared to hesitate.
I couldn’t help but feel a little concerned.
Sure, there was no need to kill the imugi, but letting it off scot-free wasn’t right either.
When you do wrong, you take responsibility—that’s how the world works.
If Baekho simply let this slide, he’d be acting like a pushover.
Besides, if the imugi didn’t pay some price, what was to stop it from causing trouble elsewhere later?
Thankfully, Baekho didn’t seem inclined to just forgive and forget.
His eyes had been fixed on one particular object for a while now—
—the imugi’s yeouiju, the glowing dragon pearl it had been nurturing to ascend.
Finally, Baekho made his decision and spoke:
‘I will forgive your transgression, but in return, you will surrender half of your yeouiju.’
The imugi leapt in shock.
‘That’s impossible!’
Splitting one’s yeouiju meant delaying the time it would take to become a dragon.
Naturally, it refused at first.
But in truth, it had no choice.
‘If you refuse, I’ll just take it by force. But in that case, I won’t leave you even a sliver. Your choice.’
That was a plain threat.
Granted, half a yeouiju was a steep price for “rent,” but the imugi was in no position to argue.
Baekho’s overwhelming aura alone was enough to make it shrink back again.
And since it was clearly in the wrong, there was no moral ground to appeal to either.
Realizing that, the imugi made its decision, desperate to at least keep the other half.
‘Fine. I’ll give you half.’
It bit down hard—CRACK!—splitting the pearl perfectly in two, then spat one half toward Baekho.
Thwip!
Baekho snatched it effortlessly, examined it, and nodded.
Serpents and spirit beasts were notoriously sly; I half expected it to try some trickery, but apparently not this time.
‘Then… may I go now?’
Baekho silently stepped aside to let it pass.
But before the imugi could slither away—
“Wait.”
I stopped it.
Not for any deep reason, though.
“If you go out now, you might alarm the merchants outside the guild.”
If it were a dragon, it could simply fly away, but as an imugi, that wasn’t an option.
Meaning it could easily cause chaos in the Golden Coin Merchant Guild on its way out.
‘If I promise to leave quietly, will you trust me?’
I snorted.
Trust a snake’s word? Seriously?
“Hand me the rest of your yeouiju, and I’ll believe you.”
Of course, it refused immediately—but it also didn’t dare attack me.
If anything, it looked even warier of me than it had been of Baekho.
‘Human, I can’t do that. But I’ll offer another arrangement—and I swear I’ll follow through.’
The way it spoke—so meekly—made it clear that Baekho wasn’t the only reason it was afraid.
Like the cunning creature it was, it had likely sensed that I was the one behind Baekho’s sudden power.
Not that I truly wanted its remaining pearl anyway.
So I went for the simplest compromise and turned to Baekho.
‘Would it be alright to let the imugi stay here for a few days?’
Baekho could have been offended, but instead he laughed heartily.
‘Since I’ve already been paid rent, a few days won’t hurt.’
If it were me, I’d have built a palace for someone who handed me half a yeouiju—its symbolic value alone was enormous.
But since Baekho agreed, I told the imugi,
“You can leave once I’m no longer in the merchant guild. Could be today, could be tomorrow.”
In short, it could only go once I gave permission.
The imugi didn’t really have any other option.
‘Then may I hide in the meantime? If you call my name, I’ll come right away.’
It glanced nervously at Baekho.
Apparently, it wasn’t keen on facing him again.
‘What if the tiger changes his mind and attacks me while you’re gone?’
Baekho gave it a look of disbelief.
The imugi quickly avoided his gaze and stared at me again, as if I were the only one it could rely on.
Honestly, its sense of judgment was pathetic.
“That’s not up to me. He’s the landlord here, not me.”
At that, the imugi reluctantly turned to Baekho.
Baekho grinned.
‘If you’re going to hide here, you’ll have to pay more rent. That okay?’
‘N-No way!’
Naturally, the imugi panicked.
“Rent” here clearly meant the rest of its yeouiju.
Baekho hadn’t actually meant to extort it—he was simply asserting dominance.
Still, the effect was better than expected.
‘Then give me something else to do! I’ll work off the rent!’
The imugi volunteered to act as a servant.
That was rare—imugis were known for their pride, so it was clear how desperate it was now.
Baekho certainly had no objections.
He just added one small condition.
‘Can I decide what that task will be later?’
The seriousness in his tone made the imugi flinch.
Even I couldn’t predict what Baekho might demand, so its wariness was understandable.
But having come this far, the imugi decided to accept.
‘Fine. But only one task—just one.’
‘Agreed.’
Satisfied, the imugi turned to leave.
Its massive body shifted, shaking the entire mountaintop as though an earthquake had struck.
Seeing it move like that, I couldn’t help thinking how incredible it was that Baekho had defeated such a beast—though technically, the imugi had surrendered before the real fight even began.
Either way, Baekho was the clear victor.
He watched the imugi’s retreating form in silence, then, sensing my gaze, turned to meet my eyes.
At that moment, I withdrew the divine power I had lent him.
Instantly, he reverted to his usual form—as if everything that had just happened were a dream.
He looked at himself in mild wonder, then turned back to me with gratitude.
‘That was no easy opponent, but thanks to you, Master, it was handled swiftly. You’ve saved my life once before, and now again—I don’t know how I’ll ever repay such kindness.’
I shrugged.
I hadn’t helped him expecting anything in return.
It had simply been the right thing to do in that moment.
But before I could say anything, Baekho seemed to come to a decision.
He took the half-yeouiju he’d been holding and offered it to me without hesitation.
‘Please accept this in place of the spiritual herbs I intended to give you.’
I was genuinely impressed.
Even if it wasn’t a true dragon’s pearl, it was still a priceless treasure—any spirit beast would covet it.
Were I in his position, I’d at least have hesitated before giving it away, especially considering how much strength he’d lost compared to his former self.
Whether or not he truly saw me as his master, he certainly viewed me as a benefactor.
Which meant my answer was obvious.
“Alright, I’ll take it.”
I accepted the half-yeouiju.
The moment it touched my hand, an immense wave of spiritual energy surged forth, astonishingly potent for just half a pearl.
Baekho must have felt that too.
‘If he’d absorbed this himself, he could’ve recovered about thirty percent of his strength.’
How had he resisted that temptation?
The more I thought about it, the more admirable it seemed.
As his master, I decided to give him a small reward in return.
But before that, I needed to test something.
‘If a yeouiju can store spiritual energy… could it also hold divine power?’
And further—
‘Maybe it could even convert spiritual energy into divine power.’
If my theory was correct, this pearl could open a new possibility.
Specifically—
‘Through the yeouiju, Baekho might be able to transform at will, even without me present.’
That would be the best possible use for it.
Of course, the odds of failure were higher than success, and if I failed, I’d likely destroy the pearl entirely.
But hesitation only breeds failure.
And besides—
‘I can do this.’
I was confident.
I’d studied divine artifacts, handled relics imbued with strong souls like the Life-Death Needle Box and Gilnang, and even forged the Doomslayer Divine Sword with my own hands.
I had the experience—and the resolve.
So I began immediately.
Wuuuum…
As I poured divine power into the pearl, its light began to shift—slowly turning into a brilliant shade of violet.
