Cho and Yeondu were gliding low over the water’s surface.
Their speed was still considerable, but I asked with concern in my voice.
“You two okay?”
I had no idea how many times I’d already asked.
But I couldn’t help asking again.
Even though the children kept saying they were fine, their speed had clearly dropped significantly.
I didn’t have a speedometer, but the wind brushing past my head had slowed enough to be noticeable.
–Tchrr. 『We’re okay, Dad.』
–Shaaa. 『We can still hold on, Master So-ryong.』
Same answers as before.
But I felt now that they really needed to rest.
They had been flying non-stop for over a day and a half. If they didn’t take a break soon, they’d collapse completely.
The power they needed to maintain this kind of flight came from the energy released by their Neidan.
Grandfather Tang Mu-seong once explained that a Neidan serves a role similar to a human’s dantian.
The only difference, he’d said, was that spiritual beasts don’t directly use the energy stored in the Neidan.
According to his explanation, it was more like magnetism.
Humans gather and use internal energy through cultivation methods. Even when they expend it, they can quickly regenerate the same amount because their dantian stores a total charge.
It’s like a battery—internal energy can be consistently accumulated, and once charged, it’s ready to be used.
But spiritual beasts don’t use the core energy itself—they draw from the energy radiated by it, like magnetic force.
That’s why their energy isn’t depleted, and if a human consumes it, they can absorb internal energy extremely fast.
So then—why do children with infinite energy sources get tired?
It’s purely physical.
Even if their energy source is inexhaustible, their bodies can still grow fatigued.
Even with a physique optimized for spiritual energy use, they aren’t immune to muscle strain or mental exhaustion.
If they became completely drained, they’d collapse and be unable to move. All this effort would go to waste.
“Okay, enough being stubborn—let’s land over there and take a break.”
I had just spoken firmly to them when an urgent message came through the group conversation.
『So-ryong, s-sorry, but where are you right now?』
“We just reached the upper Lanchang River and we’re following it down. Why?”
The voice was Hwa-eun’s.
We had just arrived at the upper reaches of the Lanchang River.
If we followed it down from here, we could probably make it in a day.
I’d answered with that in mind—but then Gun Hye-rin’s panicked voice cut in over Hwa-eun’s response.
『I see...』
“Hwa-eun, you have to tell him now! So-ryong, you need to hurry! The fourth net just tore, and it’s raining upstream! The water is rising! If this keeps up, we won’t be able to hold them back!”
The fourth net was torn?
I had set up a total of five nets.
That meant only one remained.
I couldn’t believe it—I had to ask again.
『What!? Wait, is the situation really that serious? What happened?!』
If the Poison Larvae had scattered and were drifting downstream independently, they should have appeared sporadically.
I had placed five nets just in case.
Then came Hwa-eun’s rushed explanation.
『We killed one of the first baby Poison Larvae that showed up. It screamed. That scream spread—and others started swarming in. Then the mother appeared!』
Hearing that, I realized they were clearly different from typical velvet worms.
There must have been some sort of species-level social behavior.
Still, the first net had been Yo-hwa’s.
It didn’t make sense.
Unless you were using qi, Yo-hwa’s silk shouldn’t be easy to tear.
Its only real weakness would be fire—but it had been used underwater.
『But the first net was made with Yo-hwa’s silk, wasn’t it?』
“The stakes and trees were the problem. As the pressure of the incoming swarm increased, the trees snapped, and the net was ripped away.”
That was on me—for not thinking through the support structures thoroughly.
Still, with both Gun Hye-rin and Hwa-eun there, it felt like the fourth net had fallen too fast.
More than that—
Even though the rest of the nets were bamboo and regular mesh, there had still been three more barriers.
All the warriors from the Martial Alliance and Beast Palace, aside from those on patrol, should have been deployed to guard the river.
『Still, it feels like they collapsed too quickly. What exactly happened?』
*“At first, we thought we could hold them. But once the mother Poison Larva appeared, everything changed.
Even when we blasted its head open, it regenerated quickly. Hwa-eun’s poison arts melted chunks off—but those spots just regenerated!
And now there are three mothers! One elder from the Martial Alliance sliced one vertically, and it just created another!
Looks like we need to kill the whole thing at once or it won’t work...”*
After hearing Gun Hye-rin’s report, I finally had a clearer picture of the situation.
Originally, these creatures were cautious—they’d pick off prey silently, one by one.
You could think of them as ambush predators, too afraid to fight head-on.
But now, with their young being killed, the mothers were charging in, tearing apart the nets and trying to flood the river with their offspring.
‘They said it’s raining heavily upstream, right?’
If the water rose much more, the Poison Larvae could spill over the fifth net entirely.
The mothers’ regeneration was stronger than expected—they couldn’t even kill them.
Bringing Ho-ye had been a good decision.
If regeneration was that strong, any method short of total extermination might have failed.
To prevent healing, they had to die all at once—and the best way to achieve that was electricity.
A shock would destroy their brains and cells instantly.
But time was running out.
Somehow, I had to buy them more of it.
『Yo-hwa! Can you set up another net upstream?』
–Kishishi. (I’ll try.)
Yo-hwa said she’d do it, but her voice sounded uncertain.
I tilted my head and asked,
“Yo-hwa, what’s wrong? Is something bothering you?”
A shy, hesitant voice came back.
–Kishit. (M-My stomach...)
“Your stomach?”
At that, I tilted my head again—just as Hwa-eun chimed in.
『Yo-hwa hasn’t eaten anything.』
“What!?”
Then Yo-hwa’s own cry came through.
–Kishishit. (I don’t want anything but Brother’s yang energy!)
She had been refusing to absorb anyone else’s qi lately—just as I feared.
Yo-hwa had been starving herself waiting for me.
I couldn’t force her to take it from anyone else, so I asked her to do what she could.
『Alright. Brother will be there as fast as he can. Just do what you can, okay?』
–Kishit. (Okay, Brother. I’m sorry. Kiiit.)
“No, it’s alright. Yo-hwa, I’m the one who should be sorry for not thinking of it sooner.
Hwa-eun—if things get critical, bring in Geumdo and use it to block the waterway. Until the water overflows, it should hold.”
I told Hwa-eun to use Geumdo to block the stream—basically building a dam.
If they could dam it temporarily, the surrounding area would flood, but at least the current could be delayed.
『Got it, So-ryong.』
“Hwanji, Hwana?”
–Shu. (Did you call?)
–Shhh. (Yes, Master So-ryong?)
“Yeah. Can you two swim upstream? As fast as you can.”
–Shua. (Understood.)
–Shiii. (Understood, Master So-ryong.)
If I kept flying like this, Cho and Yeondu were sure to burn out.
That’s why I was going to meet up with Hwanji and Hwana and ride on their bodies instead.
Once the conversation ended and things moved into full crisis mode, I had to speak differently to my children, who had been expecting to land and rest.
“Kids, hang in there just a bit longer. Big Sister Hwanji and Big Brother Hwana are on their way. Got it?”
–Tchrrr! 『Got it, Dad!』
–Shaaa. 『Got it, Master So-ryong!』
With that, Cho and Yeondu forced out the last of their strength and started accelerating.
***
Splash, splash.
Water flooded the surrounding area.
The sound of warriors running across the surface of the water echoed from all directions.
Yo-hwa's additional netting couldn’t hold back the rising current.
Baby Poison Larvae had started spilling through one by one, overwhelmed by the water pressure.
Hwa-eun made a swift decision.
She ordered Geumdo to block the waterway with his own body.
“Geumdo! Please!”
–Brrrrrr.
Geumdo laid aside his shell and tilted himself sideways into the stream, becoming a massive dam in and of himself.
That bought them a little time—but it also caused the water to rise in the surrounding area.
And that turned the battlefield into chaos.
At first, the baby Poison Larvae had been easy to skewer with spears along the riverbank.
But as the water rose, the warriors were forced to face them while wading and splashing through flooded terrain.
“Block off that side!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Everyone, over here!”
Baby Poison Larvae surged in from both flanks around the central net.
As more and more swarmed toward Geumdo, Ji-ryong deployed reinforcements.
But before the warriors could secure position, one of the mother Poison Larvae appeared and leapt into their ranks.
–KIEEEEE!
“It’s a mother!”
“Fall back!”
The mother’s thrashing body hurled warriors away like haystacks flying in a whirlwind.
Gun Hye-rin flew in and slammed her palm into its belly.
“Haaah!”
–BOOM!
A tremendous explosion rocked the air as the creature’s gut burst apart—but the mother’s sundered body quickly regenerated.
That kind of wound could do no more than temporarily slow it down.
“Goddamn it!”
A curse flew from Gun Hye-rin’s mouth.
She had the power to blow it apart entirely if she went all-out—but for some reason, she couldn’t, and that frustrated her to no end.
“Huaaah!”
“Stab it!”
–THUD!
–KIEEEEEEE!
While the monster paused momentarily, Chang-ryong and the surrounding warriors drove their spears into it—but with a violent twist of its body, the creature shattered their spears like strands of noodles and sent them flying.
Looking to the side, Hwa-eun was holding off a mother Larva alongside the Lord of Beast Palace.
Another mother was being held back by the elders of the Martial Alliance.
And the final one was being contained by the Five Dragon Peaks.
Yes—there were already five mothers now.
One of Master So-ryong’s spiritual beasts—a massive scorpion—had tried to help.
But when its tail struck a mother and split it into three parts, all three parts had turned into separate living mothers.
Due to the venom, none of the other spiritual beasts could assist, and the giant scorpion had been the only one able to help. But with a single sting, it had accidentally tripled their problem.
The warriors, now forced to fight the mothers while baby Poison Larvae crawled up their legs, were completely bogged down.
And then—
–SHHHHRAK!
A milky-white adhesive thread splattered across Gun Hye-rin’s body.
In the brief moment she’d let her guard down, one of the mothers had sprayed her with sticky fluid.
Startled, Gun Hye-rin rolled backward.
When she stood up, her gaze had completely changed.
“To think it dared to make me, Gun Hye-rin, grovel like a lazy donkey!”
Rolling around like that to escape had felt humiliating.
No one around her said anything—but her rage was boiling over.
That was when something caught Gun Hye-rin’s eye.
“You two! Come down here!”
Watching from atop the scorpion's back, too poisonous to join the battle, were So-ryong’s spiritual beasts.
Now, she summoned two of them.
She called Moji and Soji—and sure enough, all that feeding had paid off, because they flew over immediately and landed on her shoulders.
The moment they did, Gun Hye-rin whispered softly.
[Draw up your demonic energy.]
She planned to mask her own energy by hiding it within the demonic aura of the two beasts.
At her command, Moji and Soji released waves of demonic energy.
Immediately, Hwa-eun sent her a telepathic transmission.
[W-What are you doing!? Are you insane?]
Hwa-eun had realized that Gun Hye-rin was masking her own qi within theirs.
But Gun Hye-rin just gave a crooked smile and replied.
[If I don’t do this, I’ll never feel satisfied!]
As Moji and Soji’s enormous demonic energy poured out, stunned gazes turned toward Gun Hye-rin.
And as if she wanted them to hear, she shouted in an awkward voice:
“A-Aaah! What is this strange power...?”
Then she launched a palm strike toward the mother Poison ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Larva in front of her.
–KWAANG!
The mother exploded on impact.
Seeing the beast’s body torn to pieces gave her immense satisfaction—but in the very next moment—
The shredded pieces started twitching and moving.
“What the—?!”
Gun Hye-rin was momentarily speechless, overwhelmed by the unbelievable sight.
That’s when a voice rang out from above.
“Everyone—get out of the water!!”
It was the voice of their Master.
