Volcanic Age - chapter 7

Editor: Summerstood, Imagine,

The place he arrived at was indeed the underwater cave from his memories.

The moss he saw at the beginning shone brightly with a green light and filled the entire cave.

What he saw after that was a huge tree that was so big it made one gape in awe.

The countless branches that grew and extended in a complicated manner filled the ceiling and the walls along the moss.

The peculiarity the leaves had was that they were blue instead of green.

The tree boasted great thickness that made you wonder if it were a thousand years old.

Lastly, the roots that supported the tree covered the entire floor.

‘The underwater tree!’

It was a tree that grew under the water just like its name implied. The most amazing thing was that it could grow even without the rays of the sun.

In addition, the underwater tree was considered as a rare species and there were not many of them even in the entire central plains.

But the reason Ju Seo Cheon got surprised wasn’t because he saw the underwater tree.

And it wasn’t that he couldn’t discover the Water Spirit Fruit either.

He saw the fruit that the ronin talked about twenty years ago rolling on the floor.

But there was one difference.

There was something he didn’t know about even before he returned back in time.

‘Just what is that!’

It was a snake.

It wasn’t as big as the underwater tree but it was still a size that was outside common sense.

The size wasn’t normal at first glance but it did seem to be about as long as five adults together.

It’s length was amazing enough but the thickness it had was also outstanding. It seemed to be about three foot thick.

‘A spiritual being!’

Animals or plants that had a miraculous energy and abilities were called spiritual beings and the underwater tree also belonged to that category.

In the case of plants, they weren’t that dangerous. Normally, the dangerous ones were the ones that had poison.

But the danger spiritual animals posed was serious.

They were as intelligent as humans and the strength they possessed could even threaten experts.

‘With a body that size…’

Ju Seo Cheon had read a considerable number of books before returning back in time as he spent a lot of time being alone.

There was a book about spiritual beings among them, and he got quite knowledgeable thanks to the information in that book.

‘Damn it, it’s a spiritual being that’s at least a few hundred years old.’

Snakes, in particular, were as dangerous as wild beasts. When snakes become spiritual beings, most of them have their strength and speed increase and their scales also get hard enough to deflect sword aura.

But the most frightening thing was the poison hidden in their fangs.

‘It seems like it’s sleeping right now but…’

He had cursed hundreds of times that it was now winter, but that wasn’t the case now. He was thankful that it was winter.

All snakes, whether they are spiritual beings or not, hibernate in winter. Thanks to that he was able to not get discovered and live.

‘If I were to engage it in a fight…no, if I wake it up I will die.’

Against a spiritual being like this, peak and transcendent experts had to join hands to barely be able to defeat it.

It would be hard fighting it without having sword qi, a power that boasted of having a more absolute cutting power than any renowned sword.

So, going against that snake when he didn’t even have the martial arts from before returning in time was no different from suicide.

‘If that thing existed twenty years later…There’s no way I would have heard of it. Because it wouldn’t have existed.;

If it was that light mouthed ronin, he would have told the world that he came back alive from that snake.

But not having been able to hear of it twenty years later meant that that snake wasn’t present.

He didn’t know why.

It could have been hunted down by another spiritual being or secluded masters in the past, or it could have also turned into an imugi.

But that wasn’t the case now. That snake was hibernating in this underwater cave.

His luck was disgustingly bad.

‘Should I escape?’

Spiritual beings weren’t spiritual beings for nothing. It may feel his presence if he got close to it and may wake up from its sleep.

If that happened he would really die.

‘But it’s a waste to return now that I came all the way here.’

He raised his head and checked the underwater tree. He could see a fruit under the overwhelmingly big trunk.

The fruit was dyed blue. It was the Water Spirit Fruit.

He checked the other parts such as the roots and branches but the only Water Spirit Fruit he could see was the one on the floor.

‘I’m sure that’s the one.’

He also knew about the Water Spirit Fruit’s characteristics thanks to that Ronin going around telling everyone about it.

‘But….’

The head of the huge snake that was in deep sleep was right next to it. He didn’t have the courage to get closer.

Ju Seo Cheon racked his brains and fell in thought.

Should he step back here?

Or advance?

He didn’t think for long.

Ju Seo Cheon lowered his body and hid his presence the most he could. Then, he started to advance slowly like a turtle.

‘Master!’

He had another opportunity next week but there was no guarantee the snake wouldn’t be at that time.

It would be the end if it used this place as its nest until he turned fourteen. Yu Jong Mok would die just like in history.

That uneasiness and fear gave Ju Seo Cheon courage.

Ju Seo Cheon held his breath and approached the Water Spirit Fruit carefully.

Thump! Thump!

It was the sound of his heart that he didn’t normally pay attention but right now, he heard it as loudly as thunder cracking.

Ju Seo Cheon moved soundlessly while being aware of the snake.

‘I don’t want to regret it later.’

He had regretted it many times in the past and still  couldn’t forget that vexation and resentment.

‘Huh?’

When he got closer he was able to see it quite well. It was a fruit that would fit the palm of a hand perfectly.

But there was something different from when he saw it from far away.

‘There’s not one of them but two?’

He couldn’t see it before because there was a slight windfall. But when he got closer he got able to see another Water Spirit Fruit.

‘What a windfall!’

He was so happy a laughter almost came out.

The ronin revealed that he had only taken one fruit.

If he made a guess, the remaining fruit could have been destroyed by the snake when it left the cave.

‘Good, carefully. Calmly.’

He bowed down and extended his hand. He grabbed it and embraced it so that it made no sound and didn’t roll away.

He retrieved one fruit safely and also managed to get a hold of the remaining one carefully.

‘Okay!’

He forced back his happiness and straightened his back.

The snake that was still sleeping next to him didn’t move.

Ju Seo Cheon cheered inwardly and turned around.

But at that moment, Ju Seo Cheon froze up.

He could see golden eyes from the half opened eyes of the beast. Ju Seo Cheon’s dazed look was reflected at the vertically slit pupils.

Ju Seo Cheon forgot about breathing. No, he forgot to think.

The snake stared at Ju Seo Cheon blankly with slightly open eyes. It wasn’t the will of a beast looking at prey.

Those emotionless eyes were as cold as the water in the river above ground.

Drip.

Something fell on his head. It was water.

At least, that wasn’t water the snake spilled. It was a water drop that fell from the ceiling.

He made eye contact with the snake.

The nine year old kid that was looking at its eyes.

The snake’s eyes showed fulfilment and laziness.

The snake blinked its eyes a few times and then turned its head to the other side as if it had lost all interest.

Bang.

The underwater cave shook slightly when the snake changed position because of the considerable weight of its head. That was the end.

He didn’t know if the snake had fallen asleep again or was trying to fall asleep because he couldn’t see its face.

Ju Seo Cheon, who was frozen like ice, started to walk again. He didn’t know how much time it took.

His mind had turned blank.

He couldn’t even think.

But his hands weren’t letting go of the Water Spirit Fruit.

Ju Seo Cheon returned back to the path he came. He didn’t run or walk quickly.

He walked slowly as if he was taking a stroll and slowly entered the water.

Swoosh.

A head arose on the surface. It belonged to a kid.

The kid, Ju Seo Cheon, was able to escape. The sun was at its peak when he had dived down.

But right now, the sun was setting and dying the sky in red and he thought that the red color was really beautiful.

Ju Seo Cheon mumbled in a melancholic face after getting above the surface.

“I pissed myself…”

Ju Seo Cheon retrieved the Water Spirit Fruit safely and returned to Mount Hua Sect.

* * * * * * * *

Four days later.

Yu Jong Mok returned from the meeting around dinner.

And a few days later Ju Seo Cheon fell in his thoughts.

‘How do I give this to master?’

There were no fruits like the Water Spirit Fruit in the Mount Hua Sect.

Even its appearance wasn’t normal.

The size was normal but it reflected the color of water.

You could notice at a glance that it wasn’t normal.

‘Whew, in the first place it is too dangerous to pledge saying that it’s not a miraculous medicine.’

Miraculous medicines weren’t over after being consumed.

You needed special precautions when taking in miraculous medicines that possessed a huge amount of energy, just like the Water Spirit Fruit.

If you took it with no preparations at all, you would get bewildered at the vast energy entering your body suddenly.

And then, that bewilderment would turn into not being able to control it and in the worst case situation, your internal energy may explode and suffer from internal distortion.

‘Ugh.’

He wouldn’t be able to evade getting suspected of having stolen it no matter how he told him about it.

If you wanted to buy a miraculous medicine such as this one you needed at least a thousand gold coins, and it made no sense to say that he picked it up on the floor.

He also wasn’t able to say that he stole it from someone as a disciple of the Righteous Sect. And he didn’t even have the ability to do so in the first place.

Ju Seo Cheon wasn’t able to do anything about it and let out a sigh while groaning.

“Is there something wrong?”

Yu Jong Mok noticed that something was troubling his disciple not long after.

“Ma, master!”

“Your face was full of worry and uneasiness these days. It’s not bad to receive help from your surroundings at times when you couldn’t solve it alone.”

Yu Jong Mok stroke Ju Seo Cheon’s head like usual.

“Ugh.”

Ju Seo Cheon had the appearance of a child but he was an old man inside.

Looking at it in age, experience or insight in martial arts, he was a few levels above Yu Jong Mok.

But marvelously enough, whether he returned in time or not, he felt like he had really turned into a kid when he was in front of Yu Jong Mok.

Besides that, it was really hard for him to hide something from his master.

In front of others, he acted inconspicuously as to not seem suspicious and evaded attracting any attention.

His acting skills were also quite considerable that everyone fell for it.

Excluding one person, Yu Jong Mok, the person that was in front of him.

‘Right. It’s no use being suspected of hiding something and then being interrogated.’

Ju Seo Cheon gulped down as if he had determined himself.

‘If it’s to save master…’

If the time to take the medicine ended today?

He got the chills as soon as he thought of that.

But of course, that may be a bit too excessive. Ju Seo Cheon himself thought that his worries were a bit excessive.

But the ‘what if’ clung in his heart heavily.

Ju Seo Cheon took out the Water Spirit Fruit with courage.

“Master, won’t you take this?”

“It’s a miraculous medicine.”

Ju Seo Cheon spoke with no hesitation at all.

‘Hah.’

He feigned a laugh inwardly because it was too absurd.

A nine year old kid was groaning as if he was about to poop and suddenly took out a miraculous medicine then suddenly told you to take it.

Everyone would get dumbfounded.

Yu Jong Mok kept silent. His eyes fell to the water colored fruit that Ju Seo Cheon was holding.

A moment of silence.

And then, Yu Jong Mok finally opened his mouth.