The Useless One Translator: Xzy ***
Considering it hadn't been an incredibly long time ago, Han Yu-jin was able to retrace his memory and revisit the monkey monsters' nest without much trouble.
It was a small canyon terrain, overgrown with bushes, that one could easily miss and pass by if not for the Spirit Eye Spell.
In preparation for the one-in-a-million chance, he covered himself in the Jade Skin Spell and, holding the Five Elements Sword, entered the canyon. Not a few minutes later, he was able to reach a terrain that opened up like a clearing.
KEEK…! KIK!
KIEEEK!
At the same time, he could hear unfamiliar sounds.
It was the sight of small monkeys, clearly the young of the monkey monsters, running about in confusion.
Some fled up the trees, while others ran recklessly towards the canyon walls that surrounded the area.
There were also some who stood in place, not knowing what to do.
"Hmm."
Killing even the young ones did not make him feel very pleasant.
However, since it wasn't as if he was going to take responsibility and raise them, they were fated to die anyway if left alone, so it would be better if he finished them off himself.
"It's a shame, but what can I do when your guardians came at me first? I'll kill you as painlessly as possible."
Han Yu-jin, who spoke with a slight sense of regret, immediately manipulated the Five Elements Sword's Dharma script restriction.
Along with a brilliant flash, streaks of golden energy flew out at high speed.
It took less than ten seconds for all the terrified cries to subside. Han Yu-jin gathered the corpses of the young ones with the Object Control Spell and then took out a jade case.
'Of all things, they're young, and they're primates, so I'm reluctant to just eat them, but it's a relief that I have this.'
Thinking this, he took out a modified Bloodwood seed from the jade case, and while casting a spell included in the Bloodwood Essence Fruit Brewing Art, he dropped it onto the corpses with the Object Control Spell.
A moment later.
The seed quickly germinated, then rapidly took root in the corpses of the young monkey monsters and grew.
It was as if he were watching a time-lapse video.
The Bloodwood was a maroon color overall, but it gave off a very peculiar impression with its metallic red luster.
The bloomed leaves were a brilliant bluish-green with bright edges.
And so, from the Bloodwood that had grown to about a person's chest height, a single blood-red fruit was formed.
It was the size of a walnut and a perfect sphere, with an appearance that could be mistaken for a jade bead at a glance.
The fruit fell off on its own before Han Yu-jin could take any action. As he quickly caught it, the tree withered even faster than it had bloomed and crumbled into sandy soil.
"…Wow."
Marveling at the subtlety and mystery of the Dharma spell, he rummaged through the sandy soil debris with the Object Control Spell.
In doing so, he was able to find the seed he had first used completely intact.
Depending on which Dharma spell was used to make it sprout, it could either bear fruit like this time, or it could produce another seed.
Right now, there was obviously no reason to replenish the seeds he had no shortage of.
Han Yu-jin stored the seed back in the jade case and put it in the storage pouch, then examined the fruit for a moment longer before putting that in the storage pouch as well.
And finally.
He looked at the black tree in the center of the clearing, which he had been secretly paying attention to from the beginning.
Unlike when he had seen it before, it didn't look gaunt at all. The fact that it had no leaves was certainly peculiar, but the six fist-sized, reddish-orange fruits hanging all over the tree drew more attention.
Approaching it to take a closer look, he soon realized that these fruits were even more special than he had expected.
It was because they weren't just at the level of containing dense spiritual energy, but were emitting a certain kind of Dharma script fluctuation.
In short, they were not low-grade, but mid-grade spirit materials.
'There's no way they're high-grade spirit materials.'
From high-grade spirit materials onwards, they were treasures that even Core Formation Stage cultivators considered precious.
Therefore, no matter how rich in spiritual energy this place was, it was not something that such weak monkey monsters could have been occupying.
'It's surprising enough that they were occupying a mid-grade spirit material.'
It would have been impossible if not for this environment.
In any case, he had fortunately attended the Tianyuan Star Alchemy Arts lecture, so he was in a state where he had learned a simple Dharma spell to harvest such spirit materials without any loss.
After a brief test with a few alchemy Dharma scripts, he confirmed that there were no particular properties to be wary of and attempted to harvest them.
A faint golden energy emanated from his hand. As it gently enveloped the reddish-orange fruit and blocked the spiritual energy and Dharma script fluctuations that were flowing out, the fruit popped off on its own.
Han Yu-jin lightly caught it and took a sniff. It looked similar to a dragon fruit, but its scent was reminiscent of a plum.
'If it had been a peach, it would have been a perfect match for the monkeys.'
With that silly thought, he harvested all the remaining fruits in the same way and put them in the storage pouch.
As long as he renewed the Dharma spell at roughly two-week intervals, there was no fear of the fruit's medicinal power being lost.
'I should get a lot of things like jade cases as rewards sometime.'
Then he wouldn't have to bother with the hassle of periodically renewing the Dharma spell.
Also, if he discovered a spirit ingredient that was not in a fixed form like a fruit, but for example, in the form of honey, he would definitely need a container.
As he was thinking that.
He saw the black tree, which had been stripped of all its fruits, visibly shriveling and drying up. Han Yu-jin, who was examining it closely, soon nodded his head.
It didn't seem to be dying, at the very least.
It would be strange for the tree to die just because its fruits were picked. He conjectured that this was, in fact, its original state, and its previous appearance might have been a state where it was swollen for the survival of the fruits.
He didn't know when the fruits would grow again, so it seemed he would have to come and check at appropriate intervals.
Now that the harvest was done, it was time to watch over the monkey monster corpses and wait for the rabbit-weasels.
Han Yu-jin left the area with a heart that was expectant, yet at the same time, slightly nervous.
<><><>
On the way back, he tried casting the Earth Evasion Art instead of the Wind Cloud Spell.
On Earth, he had lacked a suitable place and time, but not here, and the cultivation he would be doing in the future would naturally include Dharma spell training.
Han Yu-jin's rapidly moving form suddenly disappeared as if melting into the ground, and a whitish halo of light moved across the surface of the ground at a tremendous speed.
Then, in one spot, Han Yu-jin's form suddenly appeared again and came to a sudden stop.
"Hmm…"
He had almost embarrassingly crashed into a tree trunk. Just like back then when he was first practicing the Wind Cloud Spell.
In short, it was difficult to control.
Moreover, the spiritual energy consumption was so enormous that it felt like he would be completely exhausted if he used it three or four more times.
If that was the case even in a favorable environment like this primeval forest, it meant that on Earth, he might get tired after just two or three uses.
'It seems I'll only be able to practice properly once I reach the Dharma Soul Stage.'
But it was an outstanding Dharma spell all the same. So much so that he could fully experience its power just by clumsily using it just now.
Even though the Earth Evasion Art was an evasion art whose strength was not originally in speed, it felt incredibly fast, and the sensation of moving as if seeping into the ground was as mysterious as if he had become a bodiless spirit.
'It makes sense that it consumes a lot of spiritual energy.'
It wouldn't make sense if it consumed little spiritual energy when it allowed one to seep into the ground and move.
Even if such a Dharma spell existed, it would surely have other weaknesses.
A moment later.
Han Yu-jin, who had arrived at the place where he had slaughtered the monkey monsters, contemplated lying down among them like back then, but decided that it wasn't necessary and hid himself on a nearby tree.
Then he waited for the day to break.
While waiting, he thought about the Enlightened Beast Taming Art.
In fact, despite its many advantages, the Enlightened Beast Taming Art was a Dharma spell that was evaluated as having very large disadvantages.
There were two disadvantages.
One was that the lifespan of the bound spirit beast became assimilated with that of its master, and the other was that it could only grow to a level one stage lower than its master's realm.
Why were those two disadvantages?
Usually, when a cultivator took in a spirit beast, they would tame something like a powerful and very long-lived monster.
A monster, which already had a lifespan of at least several hundred years, could be passed on to family or acquaintances to be used for generations even after its master died, if only it was tamed well once.
Naturally, as time passed, it would grow and its lifespan would increase, becoming more and more formidable, but one could not expect such benefits from the Enlightened Beast Taming Art.
Also, the second disadvantage, that it could only exist at a level lower than its master's realm, made it ambiguous to use.
If one couldn't expect its help in important battles and such, it would be very disappointing no matter how many other advantages it had.
'But it doesn't matter to me.'
He wasn't taking in a spirit beast with the expectation of such help anyway.
Rather, if he tried to take in another, stronger spirit beast with the expectation of such help, it would by no means be easy to raise it.
Where in the world could there be something that was only good?
The advantage of the Enlightened Beast Taming Art was that everything from learning and casting it, to the attunement and control over the bound spirit beast, was very convenient.
Also, the master could very easily pass on some of the Dharma spells they had learned through a form of spiritual communication.
The assimilation of lifespan would also be an advantage for a creature like a rabbit-weasel, whose original lifespan wasn't that long.
Moreover, in exchange for the restriction of being able to exist only at a level lower than its master's realm, it required almost no resources to grow to that limit.
In many ways, the name didn't have 'Enlightened Life' in it for no reason.
If one had no intention of using it for important purposes, there would be no better beast taming art than this.
'So, just show up.'
As he was thinking.
The day began to break. And the rabbit-weasel creatures he had been waiting for finally showed their faces.
They looked around very cautiously, but they couldn't find Han Yu-jin, who was hidden in a tree with the Shadow Hiding Spell at its maximum effect.
So, as if relieved, they began to nibble at the corpses of the monkey monsters.
As two of them began to eat, two more were quickly added.
However, Han Yu-jin's expression was not bright at all.
'Why isn't it coming…?'
The creature he had been waiting for was nowhere to be seen.
They were all similar-looking creatures, but he had spent three or four months with it, so there was no way he couldn't distinguish it, even with the Spirit Eye Spell active.
'Is the butterfly effect showing up in a place like this?'
Why wasn't it appearing, what on earth could be the reason.
Just as he was standing there blankly for a moment with a complicated mind.
"Ah."
He let out a sound without realizing it.
He could tell as soon as it appeared. It was that one.
As if he had never had a complicated mind and a heavy heart, his mood lifted in an instant, but then it became heavy again at a certain thought that came to mind.
Without making a sound, he jumped down from the tree.
Then, at a suitable distance, he released the Shadow Hiding Spell and waited for a moment.
Soon, a few of the rabbit-weasels that were in the middle of their meal belatedly discovered Han Yu-jin.
It seemed they were startled, but they didn't run away immediately.
Among the creatures that were sizing him up was the very one that Han Yu-jin was watching.
'I should have just lain collapsed among those corpses.'
With that belated regret, Han Yu-jin was at a loss for what to do for a moment.
Whether he should pull the creature over immediately with the Object Control Spell, or whether he should induce it to close the distance on its own like before.
'Was I this stupid?'
Just as he was on the verge of falling into confusion over such a trivial matter that it made him think that.
At a thought that suddenly came to mind, he took out the Spirit Liquid Gourd. Then he opened the stopper and dropped a few drops on the ground.
A faint but distinct scent of the Spirit Liquid spread out. A beast with a developed sense of smell would be able to smell it even more clearly.
However, now that he had actually done it, he felt that this wasn't right either.
'There's no way it'll be lured just because I suddenly do this…?'
If the wrong one came over first out of curiosity, should he drive it away right away? What kind of nonsense was he even doing just to tame a single beast?
Just as he was feeling self-loathing, steeped in a peculiar emotion that was difficult for him to even discern.
At the sight of the creature he was watching being the first to cautiously approach, Han Yu-jin's mood immediately improved again.
"That's right!"
At the same time, the exclamation he reflexively let out startled a few rabbit-weasels.
At the sight of even the creature that had just shown curiosity flinching and freezing, Han Yu-jin froze as well.
"Aish, fuck…!"
He finally couldn't stand his own patheticness.
"Just get over here, you little punk."
He bound the creature in an instant with the Object Control Spell, and as it struggled in surprise, he placed it right in front of him.
Then he dropped about ten more drops of the Spirit Liquid.
"Eat it or don't, do as you please. If you eat, we're together for life, and if you don't eat and run away, that's the end of it."
Although he said that, it seemed right to give off a feeling that he wouldn't harm it anyway, so Han Yu-jin squatted down in front of the creature and stroked its head.
As he watched the creature twitch its nose and roll its black eyes, he decided that this was about enough and completely released the Object Control Spell.
For a moment.
The creature didn't run away even after feeling the force that had been restraining it disappear.
It stood still, as if it was difficult to grasp the situation, or as if it was too scared to move carelessly.
"Isn't this why you got eaten by that lizard bastard? You're only quick when you don't need to be and slow when you do, you punk."
Han Yu-jin muttered and even pulled over a nearby leaf with the Object Control Spell and poured the Spirit Liquid onto it. He was even making a bowl for it.
"If you still don't eat even after this, then really…"
Right at that moment.
As if it thought Han Yu-jin's attention was elsewhere, the creature scurried away and fled.
Han Yu-jin, who was quietly watching it completely disappear beyond the bushes, closed his eyes.
"Fucking bastard…"
It seemed the method was wrong.
He should have acted exactly the same as that time. How could it be possible to befriend a wary wild animal in this way?
But…
'It's not that I'm just stupid for doing this.'
It wasn't that Han Yu-jin didn't know that.
'I just wanted to feel, to experience, that it was the same one.'
He had thought that if it was the one that had been so fanatical about the Spirit Liquid, perhaps it would be okay to approach it in this way. He had thought it would be fine as long as it didn't run away.
From a philosophical point of view, there were many opinions on whether a pet that had already died could truly be considered the same being even if you went back to the past and met it in the same way.
And quite a few people concluded that they were ultimately different beings. Because they could not share the same memories, they could not regain the unique psychological and emotional continuity of that time.
But Han Yu-jin thought a little differently.
What if it wasn't a pet, but an enemy that he couldn't live under the same sky with.
If he went back to the past and found that enemy who had not yet sinned, could he consider it a different being and just let it go?
Thinking that at this point in time there was no connection, and if the future changed even a little, there was a clear possibility that the person would not become his enemy?
'I thought I probably couldn't do that.'
So he tried to apply the same logic to the rabbit-weasel.
If he couldn't consider an enemy from a past point in time who had not yet wronged him as a different being, then that standard should naturally be applied to the rabbit-weasel as well.
Although the psychological and emotional continuity would be a little different because they couldn't share the same memories, wasn't it the same body and soul anyway?
'That's what I thought…'
It seemed that reason and emotion had to be different at times.
The sight of it running away in a flash, completely unable to recognize the Spirit Liquid it had loved so much, surprisingly gave him a feeling almost like being stabbed with a knife.
'What on earth is that little beast to me.'
Ironically, the emotion he felt now was more difficult than when the creature had died.
So he just, without doing anything, sat there blankly for a long time.
'They say things in life don't go as you wish.'
He thought about visiting again and perfectly repeating his actions from that time, but it was clear that it would be difficult to erase this current emotion even if he did it that way.
'Yes… it's a real relief that I at least got revenge back then.'
Just as he was thinking that and letting out a sigh.
"…"
In his opened eyes, he saw that creature, which he didn't know when it had stealthily approached, hiding among the bushes and looking this way.
'This little shit, really…'
Han Yu-jin felt a very slight sense of relief, and at the same time, anger.
There was a limit to toying with a person; what was the point of reappearing just at the moment he was steeped in emotion and was about to slowly give up and wrap things up?
"Are you messing with me?"
Han Yu-jin pretended to growl. At that, the rabbit-weasel flinched. But even so, it didn't run away, but twitched its nose and sized him up.
It was a very familiar sight. The creature had always sized him up like that before they became close.
An empty laugh escaped him out of sheer disbelief.
After that, Han Yu-jin showed no reaction and just sat still.
And so, time passed as they continued to have a staring contest.
Around the time when the day had not just broken with a faint light, but had entered full morning.
The rabbit-weasel finally stealthily approached and tried to lick the Spirit Liquid in the leaf bowl that Han Yu-jin had roughly made.
The sight of it scurrying back, as if wary that some kind of trap would be triggered right before it licked, was funny.
"What a show you're putting on."
It was startled again by the sound of his voice, but it didn't run away in the end. It was clearly scared, but it seemed it couldn't just give up the scent of the Spirit Liquid.
Just like that time when it had run out with that gluttonous look on its face.
"Heh…"
An empty laugh escaped him again. In the meantime, the rabbit-weasel finally licked the Spirit Liquid properly once and scurried back.
Immediately after, even its twitching nose stopped, and it licked its lips, looking back and forth between Han Yu-jin and the leaf bowl.
"I told you earlier, if you eat, we're together for life."
Han Yu-jin said calmly and added more Spirit Liquid to the leaf bowl. The rabbit-weasel started twitching its nose again and couldn't take its eyes off the Spirit Liquid.
"Your name is Muyong. Because you are useless."
It wasn't embarrassing to say, and he liked it very much.
Of course, it didn't just mean that it was useless.
In truth, it also held the meaning that it didn't really matter if it was useless, and if possible, it should acquire the minimum martial prowess so as not to die in vain like that time.
He had no intention of saying that out loud right now because it was embarrassing.
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