Watch out for the Fox Spirit.

No matter how much of a Heavenly Beast it is, the allure just now was a power beyond common sense.

Even a spiritual being of my level almost lost my composure in an instant.

The Dongja Gong is a fine martial art, but as my internal energy grows, there is a fatal flaw—it becomes easier to fall prey to such temptations.

Even for a pure spiritual being like me, maintaining such purity makes it more vulnerable to these temptations.

If it weren’t for that, I wouldn't be feeling this strange anticipation.

I suddenly wanted to wag my tail, wanted to be held in someone's arms.

I also let out some unintelligible, rather undignified noises.

If I were in my right mind, I’d never think of such things.

But still, I’m glad she didn’t show any hostility.

Rather, this form of attack made me realize how dangerous it could be and gave me an opportunity to prepare.

...But how do I prepare for this?

Should I hide Tus and Pus in my fur?

Whenever I go into a daze, they could just bite me.

It seems like a decent plan.

They’re growing bigger as time goes on, but they’re still small enough to be hidden in my fur for now.

Hooowww.

...And then, there’s this one too.

The Fox Bead.

The exact reason is still unknown, but it seems to like me.

“Surely… just now?”

The Iron-Head Dragon, confused, muttered to himself, shaking his head.

"Was it a dream...?"

He muttered and then glanced at me.

"Gomo-doshi, could it be that you...?"

He was likely wondering whether something had happened or if he had dreamt it.

It wouldn’t really matter if I said something or not.

Even if I spoke about the Heavenly Beast, he wouldn’t believe it. Communicating with my “gek-geks” is hard enough.

If it were a short story, I could say it, but the longer it gets, the more distorted it would sound.

“Gekgek.”

Hooowww.

But contrary to my thoughts, the Fox Bead flew into the air.

“Hah! It really wasn’t a dream!”

The Iron-Head Dragon quickly got into a defensive posture.

Whoosh!

The Fox Bead spun around as if it didn’t like the Iron-Head Dragon, swirling in the air.

“Gomo-doshi! Watch out!”

Woowww!

The two beads, like heads of the beads, were about to collide.

There was no time for me to stop it.

Then it dashed away, and the Iron-Head Dragon charged forward, head lowered.

Boom!

A deafening roar was heard.

“Gegegeek!”

...In the midst of it all, I was stuck between them.

“D-Daehyeop!”

*

The Fox Bead and the Iron-Head Dragon were both buried in the ground.

The Iron-Head Dragon had only his head poking out, and the Fox Bead had half of its body exposed.

Simply burying them in the earth wasn’t enough for me, so I used plants to bind them up.

“Sorry, sorry! Gomo-doshi, I didn’t mean to….”

Wooowww…

The two creatures groaned in frustration.

“Gekgek….”

I could still feel the vibrations in my bones.

As expected, the Iron-Head Dragon’s headbutts were not something you want to take head-on.

Though his strength had diminished since our battle, it was still quite powerful.

Of course, it wasn’t just the Iron-Head Dragon producing that force.

The Fox Bead, which had flown towards us in a flash from the other side.

The Fox Bead’s attack met the Iron-Head Dragon's headbutt, creating a strange harmony between them.

Thanks to that, the power was enough to make me scream.

“Kuhh… The plants are…! Gomo-doshi, please stop this!”

Wooowww! Wooowww!

Huh?

What’s wrong with my plants?

Still, the fact that a man is doing that makes me feel a little strange.

...You’re male, right?

If you’re a female too, my position here might become awkward.

“Hah… Hah… Thank you, Gomo-doshi…”

Wooowww…

Both the Iron-Head Dragon and the Fox Bead were panting heavily.

…Although I’m not sure if I should say the Fox Bead was panting.

Luckily, the Fox Bead seemed to calm down a bit.

If they had continued fighting, I’d have personally shown them what the inside of Gomo-doshi’s mouth looked like.

Instead, I gave a brief explanation with my gekgek sounds.

“…Heavenly Beast. I thought it was a being of imagination, but to think it actually exists. Being by Gomo-doshi’s side, it seems my humble experience is widening.”

The Heavenly Beast appeared for a brief moment, and she had entrusted this Fox Bead to me.

“Moreover, seeing that the raging spirits have disappeared without a trace, it seems the Heavenly Beast must have gathered them. It’s true what they say, a sacred spiritual beast connected to the heavens—those rumors don’t seem exaggerated.”

Wooowww.

“Yet, to think the Fox Bead could move so actively… I think I understand why it’s angry. I must have eaten that Bead.”

The Fox Bead is not a common artifact.

It is an item controlled by a fox that has trained for over a hundred years. For someone else to obtain it, the original owner must die.

The Iron-Head Dragon had received the Fox Bead from Nam Gung-Yeon, and at that time, the Bead did not move.

It was considered a spiritual medicine, and he simply swallowed it.

“A Fox Bead that isn’t handled by a fox typically doesn’t move. It makes sense that it wouldn’t, since its owner had died. But for this Bead to move like this…”

The Fox Bead trembled lightly, almost as if agreeing with his words.

“…The owner hasn’t died.”

But that statement is contradictory.

The premise for the Fox Bead to change hands is that the original owner must die.

“I can’t say for sure, but there must be some story behind this. It seems that it’s trying to follow Gomo-doshi, having sensed the power within you.”

The power within me?

“…The warm power that awakened my mind, one that reminds me of the sun. The Fox Bead must have felt the same energy inside me.”

There was something I needed to address.

The sun-like power the Iron-Head Dragon mentioned.

I don’t have that much to do with the sun.

If I had used fire, such a misconception might have been possible, but at that time, I didn’t use fire.

I was simply using my plant manipulation abilities.

“The power to break evil magic, the power to make plants grow and enrich the land. Gomo-doshi is the sun itself.”

Yin and Yang, and the Five Elements.

Among them, I thought my power was tied to the Wood element.

If I had taken control of the Fire Mountain Dragon Gate, it would have made sense for the Wood power to manifest.

But, in reality, the source of my power might not be from Wood, but from Yang.

No, that’s a bit of a stretch.

Making plants grow and controlling them is undeniably the power of Wood.

But the questions persist.

…To understand my powers more clearly, I’ll need to claim another Dragon Gate.

Especially Chodo from the Dragon Life Cult.

The child of a plant-controlling dragon.

If I take his Dragon Gate, I’ll understand the true source of my power.

“This Fox Bead was likely drawn to that power of Gomo-doshi,” he said.

Wooowww.

The Fox Bead nodded, as if agreeing with his words.

I don’t know exactly what the source of my power is, but maybe it’s just that it likes my power.

The Fox Bead was entrusted to me by the Heavenly Beast.

There’s a story behind this Bead, and someday, I’ll have to uncover it.

It’s a sentient object, but it’s powerful enough to harm me to some extent.

Additionally, the powers that foxes wield belong to the Yin side of the Five Elements.

While I had no idea where to get the Yin, it seems like the Fox Bead has come to me just like that.

Wooowww.

The Fox Bead trembled lightly.

It rubbed its body against my cheek.

“…It’s moving like a child trying to charm its parents.”

The Iron-Head Dragon spoke calmly.

As he said, the Fox Bead had some behavior that reminded me of a child.

It didn’t like the Iron-Head Dragon, so it tried to attack him without thinking, but then seemed sulky after I scolded it, and now it’s showing me affection immediately after being pulled out from the ground.

The Fox Bead and the Iron-Head Dragon.

They’re strangely similar, aren’t they?

Both lost their parents, both lost their masters.

They must have resented the world and were destined to die.

Both the Iron-Head Dragon and the Fox Bead.

But then they met me.

Their fates have changed.

Gegekk.

The Gegekk disturbance was created for people like them.

Just like Tus and Pus and Tang So-Yeong.

“Gegekk.”

The Fox Bead trembled intensely.

The Iron-Head Dragon’s eyes widened.

“Gomo-doshi…!”

The Iron-Head Dragon spoke with a trembling voice.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t quite understand….”

The Fox Bead seemed to agree with his words, twitching slightly.

…

“Gekgek!”

The lizard felt embarrassed.

“Gomo-doshi! Please, not the plants!”

Wooowww! Wooowww!

*

I stayed a bit longer in the snowy mountain.

Although it was called a snowy mountain, there wasn’t much snow accumulated.

Using my abilities, I made plants grow, creating a suitable ecosystem.

Unlike before, the environment was now conducive to various creatures gathering.

The management of the snowy mountain was entrusted to the Iron-Head Dragon.

Since my body is only one, it was impossible to manage both the snowy mountain and the volcano simultaneously.

I still hadn’t fully mastered the volcano, so it would be better to focus on my original place.

The Iron-Head Dragon was a reliable subordinate.

Though he had weakened, his headbutt was still strong enough to pose a threat to me.

Moreover, as he became more accustomed to the Dragon Gate powers, he would only grow stronger.

His body was also indestructible, so unless another Dragon Gate owner appeared, there was no way he could lose.

“Gomo-doshi, are you leaving now?”

The Iron-Head Dragon spoke gallantly.

Wooowww.

The Fox Bead trembled lightly in my fur.

The Iron-Head Dragon would perform his duties on the snowy mountain.

The Fox Bead would stay with me and eventually reveal its secrets.

The Iron-Head Dragon made a respectful bow.

It was the ideal image of a devoted follower that I had been hoping for.

“Gekgek.”

Jisalseong, Bak Gi-Gae.

If one didn’t feel unease at the destiny of killing, it would be a lie.

But I believed he could overcome it.

After all, that’s what Gegekkyo is about.

“Gegekk is Gegekk, and may the Qiti-hoo prosper forever.”

…Could you not use such difficult words?

•  

I returned to the volcano.

“I had heard that the Head of Shaolin had fallen, but to think that’s the case….”

I instinctively reached for Baek Rang’s stomach, but stopped myself, and instead spoke with Tang So-Yeong, touching Chillang.

“The true identity of Nam Ga-han is the Iron-Head Dragon, and he was destined for Jisalseong’s fate. I never heard such talk even from Dang-ga.”

It seemed Shaolin had thoroughly controlled the information.

If you were to pick the two sects most mired in corruption, it would likely be Dang-ga and Shaolin, but even Dang-ga wasn’t aware of this.

Of course, a high-ranking person from Dang-ga, like the head of the sect, might have known, but someone like Tang So-Yeong, with her own standing, didn’t know.

Other martial artists would be completely unaware, and most likely believed that Shaolin had truly fallen.

“I’m relieved now. I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, but having a rift with humans will only lead to trouble. Even if we win, we’ll suffer damage, and killing humans brings trouble with the vengeful spirits. At least if it wasn’t for that old hag…”

Baek Rang sniffed the air.

His wolf-like glossy black nose moved and nudged against my chest.

“Baek Rang? What are you doing?”

“I just smelled something familiar.”

...Is it because of his wolf senses?

“This soft smell. I’ve smelled it somewhere before.”

Soft smell?

“…Hey.”

He pressed gently on me with his front paw.

“Geek…”

“Did you meet that old hag?”

“Gekgek!”

How did he know?

Well… wait, why am I shivering?

I’m a Gegekkyo’s divine beast, after all.

These are my followers.

“Gekgek.”

Yes.

I smiled as I thought about Tianhu.

So what’s next?

“…Catch it.”

Huh?

As soon as Baek Rang spoke, Tus and Pus quickly moved.

From Ilang to Chillang, they were all in motion.

“Gekgek?”

No, wait. Am I not the leader here?

“Let’s conduct an inspection first.”

Baek Rang said coldly.

Inspection? What inspection?

Right. He’s probably going to check if I’m Gomo-doshi?

“Let’s check the lower part…”

“Geek!”

Only then did I understand why Tus and Pus were following Baek Rang.

Kraaaak!

Iron-Head Dragon! Daoist! Dojeong!

I am a divine beast of Gegekkyo!

I already miss the Iron-Head Dragon's respectful demeanor.

No matter how I think about it, the structure of Gegekkyo is strange.

I tried to block them with my hands, but these beasts were hell-bent on undressing me.

Especially around the lower body!

“Geek!”

I couldn’t summon any strength, and I felt as if I was about to become a dried Gomo-do.

As I trembled in fear, I couldn’t resist.

“…Stop.”

A figure with golden hair and red eyes appeared.

“Gegekk!”

It was Nephila.

No matter how Zuo Ho Fa and U Ho Fa were charmed, it seemed they hadn’t managed to persuade the Deity.

Currently, Nephila held the position of Deity.

The Deity was the second-highest position after me.

...But why is she ignoring my words and listening to hers?

“…Tch.”

Baek Rang clicked his tongue in disappointment.

At least thanks to Nephila, I survived.

“Gegeek… Gegekk!”

I hugged Nephila and bawled my eyes out.

Nephila just smiled softly and patted my head.

How could someone be so merciful?

She’s clearly not a mere Deity, but a Heavenly Maiden sent down from the skies.

Her chest was admittedly a bit lacking, but still...

While burying my face in her chest, crying, something strange happened.

Nephila’s hand stopped.

Why is she stopping?

“…Gek?”

When I looked up, Nephila’s eyebrows were raised.

She looked angry.

Swoosh!

In an instant, a tremendous amount of spider silk burst out and bound me up.

“…Finish it.”

Wait a second.

Nephila, are you joking?

“Geek!”

The Gegekkyo followers rushed in unison.

“This… this is…! I need to record this…”

Tang So-Yeong only observed as my clothes were being torn away.

The Fox Bead also seemed strangely quiet, as though waiting for something.

“Geekgeek!”