Fabre in Sacheon's Tang-Chapter 167: Wildfire (4)

‘No, this doesn’t match at all.’

I turned my head, flames crackling above me, to look at Hyang.

That unimpressive, dopey face came into view.

The moment our eyes met, the flames on its back flared up and then shrank again, repeating the motion.

For a second, I thought that instead of a grand name like Azure Fire Magma Toad, something cute like Orange Potato Toad would suit it better.

The reason I thought of that name was simple—its potato-like appearance.

In my past life, potato was called Marryeongseo in Zhongyuan, a name odd enough to be used in fantasy novels. The reasoning behind it was straightforward: potatoes were named Marryeongseo because they resembled the oval-shaped bells attached to horses.

So, Orange Potato Toad was a perfectly adorable name, meaning Orange Horse Bell Toad.

And no, it didn’t refer to other kinds of bells.

‘Now that’s a cute and realistic name.’

Nodding to myself, I turned to Hwa-eun and asked,

"Why does our unimpressive Hyang have such an impressive name?"

"Azure Fire Magma Toad?"

Since toad was part of the name, it seemed that in Zhongyuan, Hyang was classified as a toad. But even I, Fabre, wasn’t entirely sure of its exact classification.

That was something to figure out later.

Instead of answering my question, Hwa-eun rushed toward me with urgency in her voice.

"So-ryong, how much internal energy do you have left?"

I was more curious about the name’s origins, but Hwa-eun’s sudden urgency made me answer her first.

If she was asking this frantically, it had to be something important.

Also, if I had done something wrong again, I needed to gauge the situation first.

That way, I could at least avoid getting smacked too hard later.

"Uh... about half? Why?"

Hwa-eun wiped the cold sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, took a deep breath, and moved in even closer.

"Listen carefully, So-ryong. Don’t panic. You need to stay as calm as possible. Keep your mind steady."

"Uh? Y-yeah."

I knew that anxiety made internal energy deplete faster, so I nodded, trying to stay composed.

Then Hwa-eun dropped a bombshell.

"Hyang is an Azure Fire Magma Toad. One of the Ten Great Venomous Beasts, the ruler of all toads and a creature of deadly poison."

"What?!"

I recoiled. "H-Hyang is one of the Ten Great Venomous Beasts?! The king of toads?! Are you serious?!"

How could something so unimpressive be part of the Ten Great Venomous Beasts and a toad king at that?

Seeing my disbelief, Hwa-eun nodded firmly.

"Yes, it’s certain. I’ve never seen one before, but I remember what was written in the Secret Compendium of Venomous Creatures: ‘Magma flows across its back, and blue flames rise from it.’ I double-checked when I told you to examine it last time. There’s no doubt."

"But if you've never seen one before... you could be mistaken..."

Even if it matched the book’s description, it was hard to believe that this orange potato was both a Ten Great Venomous Beast and a toad king.

I started to wonder if there was a similar venomous beast that was being mistaken for it.

Hwa-eun pointed at the flames above my head.

"Azure Fire. The book said that when someone or something is poisoned, an azure flame rises above their head, burning away all their internal energy. And once all the energy is gone..."

"Gone... then what?"

Hwa-eun suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

I repeated her words nervously.

She slowly clenched her hand as if holding an invisible egg—then opened it wide and said a single word.

"Boom."

"Hiiaaaak!"

—Whooosh!

The moment she said it, the flames above my head blazed higher.

No matter how hard I tried to stay calm, this was not a situation where staying calm was even possible.

Losing my hair was one thing—at least that meant my head would still be intact.

But this?

This meant everything would be gone.

The flames on my head were feeding on my internal energy, and once all of it was burned up, I would explode.

Even animals and ordinary people had some internal energy, but since they had less than martial artists, they would probably burst instantly.

For martial artists, it was essentially a countdown to their demise.

This was definitely worthy of being classified as one of the Ten Great Venomous Beasts.

Feeling my energy rapidly draining, I shouted in desperation.

"W-What do I do?!"

"How do we save our So-ryong?!"

Both Seol and I shouted at Hwa-eun in panic.

Hwa-eun rolled up her sleeves.

"There’s no other way. Grandfather and Father aren’t here, which is worrying, but with Seol and me, we’ll do everything we can. So-ryong, you need to accept Hyang’s poison."

At her words, clarity returned to my mind.

"Oh! That method!"

"Oh! Right!"

Both Seol-noona and I had been so flustered that we hadn’t even considered it.

Of course!

Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art.

More precisely, its origin technique, Wild Beast Heart Art.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

If I accepted Hyang’s poison as one of the Five Poisons, the poisoning would be neutralized.

Since venom-based martial arts granted complete resistance to poisons used to advance cultivation, this would be the perfect solution.

I had ignored the idea simply because Hyang looked too unimpressive.

But if it was truly a Ten Great Venomous Beast, this single fact solved everything.

‘Wait... then why did I suffer so much before?!’

And in that instant, realization struck.

I recalled the agony I endured when trees crashed into the boat during the flood.

If I had just listened to Hwa-eun back then...

If I had accepted Hyang’s poison earlier, I wouldn’t have gone through all that suffering.

I had thought the world was unfair and everything was working against me.

But now, I realized—it wasn’t the world.

It was me.

The heavens had been sending me signals all along.

‘Listen up. If you don’t, you’re going to suffer.’

They had been warning me constantly, but I had foolishly picked the most dangerous path, reassuring myself that it was fine.

‘The sages of my past life were right... You should always listen to navigation, your mother, and your wife... Sniff...’

Suppressing the flood of emotions welling up inside me, I turned to Hwa-eun.

"Alright, I’ll do it, Hwa-eun."

"Cho, keep watch and make sure no one comes near. Noona, stay with me and keep an eye on So-ryong. If anything happens, we’ll handle it together."

"Got it, Hwa-eun!"

—Hiss!

At Hwa-eun’s command, Cho floated into the air and started circling the area.

I picked up Hyang and cradled it in my arms.

It had reached its adult stage, but that only meant it had transformed from a tadpole into a toad—it was still small.

Sitting cross-legged, I placed Hyang, which was slightly larger than a human head, onto my lap and focused on the mental chants of Wild Beast Heart Art.

The blue flames rising from Hyang’s back merged with the ones burning on my head, forming a massive azure fire around us.

—Whooosh!

My eyes closed, and my consciousness began to fade.

***

As I recited the mnemonic of Wild Beast Heart Art, I closed my eyes and opened them again—only to find myself standing before a massive pond.

But unlike an ordinary pond, this one was filled to the brim with boiling lava.

—Bubble, bubble.

A bizarre sight, but I had already experienced something similar twice before through Cho and Bini, so this time, I wasn’t shaken.

This had to be some kind of mental landscape or spiritual realm.

‘I guess I need to find Hyang now?’

Recalling my experiences with Cho and Bini, I figured the next step must be finding Hyang within this space.

When I first entered this state with Cho, she had been cradled in my arms. But with Bini, we had been separated, so I had to find it myself.

I was holding Hyang just before entering, yet now it was nowhere near me.

‘Hyang is a toad, so it should be in the pond, right?’

Since Hyang was a toad, the most likely place for it to be was inside the pond.

I started scanning the area, walking around the molten lake.

As I circled the perimeter, I spotted something beyond the rising flames—a small island at the center of the lava pond.

Focusing my vision past the flickering heat waves, I could make out a figure lying in the middle of the island.

‘That must be Hyang.’

Given what happened with Cho and Bini, if a human figure appeared in this space, it was most likely Hyang.

I found the closest spot to the island and called out.

"Hyang! Hyang!"

But the figure lying there didn’t budge.

It seemed I would have to go there myself.

"How the hell am I supposed to cross this?"

A lake of boiling lava stretched out before me. There was no obvious way across.

Just as I started racking my brain for a solution, I noticed scattered stones protruding from the lava, forming a crude stepping path.

Looked like that was my only option.

I’d have to rely on Lightness Skill to leap across them and reach Hyang.

‘Alright. It’s just a mental realm. Let’s give it a shot.’

After a brief moment of calculation, I mapped out the optimal jumping route and memorized it. Then, taking a running start, I leaped into the air.

—Tap!

The intense heat from the lava hit me as I soared through the air, landing on the first rock.

The stones jutted out just enough to allow me to cross. Though the heat was searing, it wasn’t impossible to navigate.

Before long, I reached the center island.

And there, lying on its side, fast asleep, was a woman with short, orange hair.

‘Wait. Hyang is female?! Nice!’

The moment I saw her, one thought erupted from within me—Nice!

If a ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) woman had appeared in this space, it meant Hyang was female.

Based on my past experiences with Cho and Bini, when a feminine figure appeared in this mental realm, it meant the venomous beast in question was female.

Of course, it wasn’t because I was thrilled that Hyang was a woman.

It was because, in the case of amphibians, the females were much larger and more formidable than the males.

Since amphibian females needed to lay large clutches of eggs, they were naturally bigger. That meant I could raise Hyang into a much larger, more imposing creature.

A Ten Great Venomous Beast, and a female on top of that—aside from her unimpressive appearance, Hyang was turning out to be an excellent companion.

"Hyang?"

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Feeling pleased, I approached her sleeping form and called out.

She twitched slightly.

"Hyang, wake up. It’s me."

I crouched beside her, gently nudging her shoulder.

Finally, she groggily sat up, blinking at me with sleepy eyes.

That dopey, vacant stare...

It was the same look she had in her actual form.

Yep. This was definitely Hyang.

‘Alright, I found her. Now what?’

I had woken her up, but I wasn’t sure what to do next.

Thinking back to what happened with Cho and Bini, the next step seemed to be... a hug?

I hesitated, staring at Hyang.

Hugging her out of nowhere felt a bit awkward.

With Cho and Bini, I had raised them from eggs, so they felt more like daughters to me. Even if they appeared in human form, it wasn’t uncomfortable.

But Hyang... she looked like an adult woman.

And since she had spent most of her time in a water tank, we hadn’t built the same level of familiarity yet.

‘How do I do this without making it weird?’

Trying to find a natural way to initiate a hug, I figured I should at least start with a proper introduction.

Since this was a connection formed through martial arts, maybe a few words to acknowledge it would help.

"Hyang, um... our minds are about to be connected through martial arts, so from now on, we—"

Before I could finish my sentence, Hyang started dozing off again.

‘Are you kidding me?’

This lazy toad!

If words weren’t enough to wake her up, I knew just the thing that would.

"Food!"

The moment that word left my mouth—

Hyang’s body shot up into the air like a spring.

Before I could react, she lunged at me.

"Ugh!"

I toppled over as she landed on top of me.

My vision started to fade.

Apparently, this much physical contact was enough.

Even if it wasn’t a hug, the connection was established.

As everything turned dark, one last thought crossed my mind—

Hyang was nothing if not consistent.