Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Chapter 167

‘No, this doesn’t match at all.’

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

That unimpressive, dopey face ca into view.

The mont our eyes t, the flas on its back flared up and then shrank again, repeating the motion.

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

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

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

So, Orange Potato Toad was a perfectly adorable na, aning Orange Horse Bell Toad.

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

‘Now that’s a cute and realistic na.’

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

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

"Azure Fire Magma Toad?"

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

That was sothing to figure out later.

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

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

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

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

Also, if I had done sothing 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 sothing 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 rember what was written in the Secret Compendium of Venomous Creatures: ‘Magma flows across its back, and blue flas rise from it.’ I double-checked when I told you to examine it last ti. 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 flas above my head.

"Azure Fire. The book said that when soone or sothing is poisoned, an azure fla 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 mont she said it, the flas 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 ant my head would still be intact.

But this?

This ant everything would be gone.

The flas 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 so 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 , 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 thod!"

"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 .

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

It was .

The heavens had been sending signals all along.

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

They had been warning 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 , I turned to Hwa-eun.

"Alright, I’ll do it, Hwa-eun."

"Cho, keep watch and make sure no one cos near. Noona, stay with 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 ant it had transford 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 ntal chants of Wild Beast Heart Art.

The blue flas rising from Hyang’s back rged 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 sothing similar twice before through Cho and Bini, so this ti, I wasn’t shaken.

This had to be so kind of ntal 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 .

‘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 periter, I spotted sothing beyond the rising flas—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 seed I would have to go there myself.

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

A lake of boiling lava stretched out before . 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 ntal realm. Let’s give it a shot.’

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

—Tap!

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

The stones jutted out just enough to allow 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 mont I saw her, one thought erupted from within —Nice!

If a woman had appeared in this space, it ant Hyang was female.

Based on my past experiences with Cho and Bini, when a feminine figure appeared in this ntal realm, it ant 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 ant 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?"

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

She twitched slightly.

"Hyang, wake up. It’s ."

I crouched beside her, gently nudging her shoulder.

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

That dopey, vacant stare…

It was the sa 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 seed 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 . 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 ti in a water tank, we hadn’t built the sa 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 ford 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 ?’

This lazy toad!

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

"Food!"

The mont that word left my mouth—

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

Before I could react, she lunged at .

"Ugh!"

I toppled over as she landed on top of .

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.