Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

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Evolution 4

As I screamed in delight, my Older Sister Seol looked at me with a bewildered expression.

“Well, it’s a pity about the Inner Dan. But it’s still about the same as a meal…”

It seemed like she was feeling a bit let down that Chao had consumed the Inner Dan.

But whether it was 120 years, 1,200 years, or 12,000 years, the Inner Dan no longer mattered much.

Seeing Chao, who had blossomed beautifully, made everything else irrelevant.

I quickly lunged forward to hug Chao.

“Chao, you’ve grown up so beautifully! This daddy is overjoyed! Were you hurt that I didn’t recognize you? But you’ve become so pretty that I couldn’t help but not recognize you!”

Isn’t it a father’s duty to celebrate his daughter’s growth?

Especially when she looked this magnificent, it was only natural to congratulate her a thousand or ten thousand times.

-Tsu, tsurrr…

As I felt Chao’s sleek yet sturdy chitinous shell wrapped in my arms, I marveled at the sensations of its smoothness intertwined with firmness.

However, the shell wasn’t just plain hard and rigid.

Within that firmness, I could sense a peculiar elasticity characteristic of centipedes.

It was a tactile experience of a shell that was both tough and flexible, perfectly embodying the centipede’s ability to hide in the tiniest crevices, and that was Chao’s new body.

It felt just like when I held the mature Blue-Spotted Centipede, the mother of these little devils!

“Yes! This is it! This is what I’ve been waiting for!”

Along with that, another wave of emotion rushed through me, reminiscent of the large snakes I had raised in my previous life.

The overwhelming strength felt only with giant creatures was also palpable in Chao’s body.

“This feels like touching a tiger after petting a house cat!”

In my past life, I had visited a zoo a few times for filming.

As a venomous YouTuber, the zoo often became a filming location, and during the last shoot, as we approached the 1 million views mark, I had the opportunity to interact with various venomous creatures and animals directly; Chao’s body reminded me of the feeling when I touched a 100-day-old tiger cub back then.

When faced with any unfamiliar moment, it’s natural to recall past experiences and draw comparisons.

Thus, before touching the tiger, I had thought of dogs or cats.

When I felt the tiger’s ankle, it was inevitable that I thought of the ankles of smaller animals.

But that thought was utterly foolish.

The moment I touched the 100-day-old tiger’s leg, what I felt was that overwhelming strength.

The bones and muscles packed solid within its skin.

To think of a tiger merely because it belonged to the same feline family was an insult.

When touching animals like dogs or cats, the first thought is often that they are frail, but the moment I touched the tiger’s leg, the first thought that struck me was: ‘This is an entirely different kind of resilient creature that I’ve never encountered!’

The structure, the muscles—they all told me that this creature possessed overwhelming strength.

Therefore, my feelings while holding Chao now reflected that same experience.

Though not quite as gigantic as her mother, the Blue-Spotted Centipede, Chao had now grown to around six meters long.

Unlike her previous frail body, the overwhelming power of a creature that could easily sit atop the ecological pyramid radiated from her shell and the depths within.

Though not as thick as the Flying Heavenly Snake, there seemed to be an aura of strength emanating from Chao that surpassed even that.

The immense pressure exuding from her powerful legs and sturdy body left me overwhelmed with emotion, almost bursting my heart.

“This is the Ten Great Venoms! Not to mention, I raised one myself!”

Of course, I had already encountered one of the Ten Great Venoms, Yo-hwa, but the feeling was slightly different this time.

Yo-hwa was acquired rather regrettably, while Chao’s cultivation into the pinnacle of the Central Plains’ Ten Great Venoms was uniquely mine to celebrate.

Having raised such a powerful creature, evident in its firm beauty, there was no way I couldn’t feel elated.

Certainly, I had cared for her since she was an egg, hadn’t I?

I thought I was dealing with a lowly offspring, but she had evolved.

Chao was now a treasure and a source of pride for her father.

“Oh, how beautiful! Our Chao! Daddy isn’t the least bit sorry about the Inner Dan. Well done! You ate well!”

-Tsu, tsurrr…

As I rubbed my face against Chao in sheer joy, I heard the voices of Hua Eun and Older Sister Seol nearby.

With concern in their tones, they asked, “So… So-ryong, calm down.”

“They say that if you connect with a Ten Great Venom, your consciousness could be devoured. Did something happen to your head, like you mentioned, Father!?”

“No, this… this seems completely normal… It’s like this usually.”

“Is that how it is usually!?”

As I acted overdramatic, Hua Eun and Older Sister Seol tried to calm me down.

Their conversation ended with Seol’s incredulity, and Hua Eun pulled me over to sit down, saying, “So… So-ryong, calm down. Since you’re awake, we need to check your body first. Just take it easy and sit down.”

“Oh, right. In all the excitement, I forgot to check my body. I’ll just go and fetch my father and Mandok God.”

“Yes, sister.”

When she mentioned fetching the adults, I grabbed Seol’s arm as she tried to rush out.

“My body is fine. It seems I just lost consciousness for a while; calling the elders isn’t necessary…”

It seemed I merely fainted for a bit, and since my body felt perfectly alright, there was no need for panic.

Though I was overwhelmed with intense emotion.

However, Seol insisted with a serious look, raising a finger.

“You just woke up after fifteen days. So, Ryo, you must check your body.”

“Fifteen days?”

As I widened my eyes at the mention of fifteen days, Hua Eun and Seol nodded in agreement.

Seol dashed out to fetch the elders while Hua Eun sat down to explain.

“Chao collapsed the moment she consumed the Flying Heavenly Snake’s Inner Dan. And you twisted around her, only to awaken fifteen days later. Chao woke up after ten days, and it’s been five days since your awakening, so we were worried.”

“Is that so?”

I thought it was a brief moment, but it turned out to be fifteen days!

With disbelief, I looked back at Chao once again.

And at that time, I heard Hua Eun’s hesitant voice once more.

“So-ryong, um… and there’s a little bad news…”

“Bad news?”

Amid my surprise, Hua Eun brought up that there was some bad news.

But with Chao evolving into a Ten Great Venom, how could small bad news possibly matter?

After all, great joy always outweighs little sorrow.

I nonchalantly replied, “I don’t know how bad the news is, but with Chao growing up so beautifully, little bad news is trivial, right…?”

At that moment, Hua Eun appeared flustered and quickly sent me a message.

[It’s not trivial. So-ryong! You need to watch your words!]

“?”

Blinking at the warning to be careful with my words, Hua Eun’s message came through again.

[There are two very upset kids right now. We should probably resolve their anger first… ]

‘Kids are upset?’

At first, I was confused, but I soon noticed Hyang and Bin crawling up Hua Eun’s shoulder.

-Tsurur!

-Tsururrrr!

Clearly distressed cries.

Only then did I understand who Hua Eun was referring to as angry children.

And I realized why they were upset.

It was because the fight on the table had been a sort of competition for the Inner Dan, and thanks to my interference, only Chao had reaped the rewards.

It was like the eldest daughter was the only one receiving help from her father while the other two fought among themselves.

“Whoever fights and wins becomes the Flying Heavenly Centipede!”

“I understand! Eonni, I have no intention of losing!”

“I’ll eat that and monopolize daddy’s affection!”

“Eh? Ah, daddy, you can’t do that!”

“Eonni, that’s cheating!”

“Little sisters? This too is all fate.”

With a vague recollection of how things might have gone, I began to ponder how to appease my daughters, having never resolved any daughter’s issues before.

“Oh no! Just as Hua Eun said, this is a big problem!”

*

“I’m sorry, kids. Hyang, Bin, please forgive me as I didn’t know!”

-Tsurut!

-Tsurut!

Though I kept shamelessly begging for their forgiveness, Hyang and Bin completely turned their heads away in a huff from atop Hua Eun’s shoulder.

From what Hua Eun had related, it looked like they had tolerated their hurt feelings while continuing to check on me, but seeing me now had stirred up those hidden feelings of resentment.

The vibe I sensed from them was that Daddy favored only his eldest daughter Chao.

Especially when they had witnessed me joyously holding Chao, it must have added more to their disappointment.

“Ah, it’s not like that! Daddy thinks our Hyang and Bin are precious too…”

-Tsurut!

“I promise!”

As they emitted warning snorts, nearly making it impossible for me to speak, Seol, who had gone to fetch the elders, entered the room with Mandok God and my adoptive father, the Beast Palace Lord.

“Oh! You’ve awakened!”

“Has So-ryong awakened?”

Both of them rushed over, grabbing either of my arms.

“Let’s see now!”

“Let’s see now!”

“Yes?”

They adorned me with a mix of their riddling phrases while holding me firmly by the arms.

As I glanced back and forth between my adoptive father and Mandok God, both wore awkward smiles as they took turns yielding to one another.

“P-please, you go first, esteemed elder.”

“N-no, Beast Lord, you go first.”

Although the two took turns offering each other precedence, neither let go of my arms.

It felt like they were ‘calculating’ how to handle the order of their respective checks sensibly while remaining attached to me for quite a while.

But eventually, the victor was none other than Mandok God.

As he closed his eyes to check my body, nodding, he finally spoke.

“Indeed, your Venomous Power has increased. It seems to be correlating with Chao’s enhanced venom as well. We’ll have to confirm that at the Tang Clan.”

As Mandok God said, my internal power had also increased significantly.

I could direct my energy much more smoothly, and as he noted, Chao’s venom in my body had become much stronger as well.

The Tang Clan’s venomous arts felt like they used internal power as fuel, with the venom acting as an enhancer.

For example, when unleashing a gust of wind, if I could produce a breeze as strong as a fan’s with my internal energy, adding venom permitted a larger effect with less power usage.

Thus, the quantity and intensity of the venom were paramount, and Chao’s efficiency in her evolved state had quadrupled compared to her previous form.

“Yes, understood. Thank you, Grandfather.”

After answering Mandok God, the voice of my adoptive father came.

“Then, is it my turn? Come here quickly.”

Now it was my adoptive father, who had been anxiously awaiting his turn.

After a while, similar to Mandok God, my adoptive father inspected my body for a considerable length before brightening up and declaring,

“Your Beast Heart Technique has ascended to realms I hadn’t even imagined before. You are magnificent.”

“Is that so? I’m not really certain.”

Even though they said something about me changing, I didn’t particularly feel any difference.

My connection with Chao remained the same, and I didn’t notice anything distinct with the other children either.

I was skeptical about whether I had truly advanced, but my adoptive father turned to ask Mandok God.

“May I have a closer look at So-ryong’s body, Mandok God?”

“Of course. Since So-ryong is also of the Beast Palace.”

“Thank you, Mandok God.”

Just as they seemed to finish their conversation, my adoptive father shifted to a slightly worried expression as he spoke.

“Ah, Ryo, did you happen to see any illusions or visions?”

“Illusions, you say?”

My adoptive father suddenly inquired whether I had seen any hallucinations.

As I tilted my head in confusion, he went on to explain.

“Yes, when someone of lower mastery of the Beast Heart Technique accepts too many beast consciousnesses, they may get devoured by the collective essence of the beasts. Since you are linked to the Ten Great Venoms, I wanted to warn you.

They are creatures capable of understanding the human tongue, and their consciousness might be strong. Moreover, with Spirit Venomous Creatures being almost nonexistent, it makes me worry about you being connected to the Ten Great Venoms.

So, if you ever see anything strange, run to me immediately. Understood?”

“Yes, understood.”

Though the idea of being devoured troubled me slightly, I quickly dismiss such worries since Chao would never harm me.

Thinking back, it was Chao who saved me during the memories that remained from my fainting spell—the blue-haired lady.

It had undoubtedly been Chao.

Rather than trying to consume my consciousness, it felt more as though she healed me.

“But Chao wouldn’t do something like that.”

Once the body inspection concluded, the two elders exchanged looks and said.

“Now that So-ryong has awakened, we must attend to the matters that have been postponed.”

“That sounds like a smart move.”

“Postponed matters?”

It seemed they were talking about something significant they had been unable to address because of me.

Nodding at my pondering, my adoptive father said,

“The Five Poisons Sect. We aim to investigate their base, which was destroyed a century ago.”

It seemed my adoptive father hadn’t participated in our loot raids due to his investigation concerning the Five Poisons Sect staying back.