Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang Novel - Chapter 167

Chapter 167
‘No, this really doesn’t add up.’

I tilted my head, the fire still blazing above me, to glance at Hyang.
That dull, vacant expression came into sight.
The instant our eyes met, the flames along its spine flared brightly before shrinking back down, cycling over and over.
For a moment, it struck me that a cute name like Orange Potato Toad would fit it far better than something as imposing as Azure Fire Magma Toad.
The inspiration for that name was simple—its distinctly potato-like shape.
In my previous life, potatoes were known as Marryeongseo in Zhongyuan, a term so unusual it felt like it belonged in a fantasy tale. The explanation was just as simple: they were named for their resemblance to the oval-shaped bells hung around horses’ necks.
So, Orange Potato Toad was really quite an endearing name—essentially meaning Orange Horse-Bell Toad.
And no, it had nothing to do with any other kind of bell.

‘Now that’s a fitting and charming name.’

Giving a satisfied nod, I turned to Hwa-eun and asked,
“Why does our very ordinary-looking Hyang have such an extraordinary name?”
“Azure Fire Magma Toad?”

Since ‘toad’ was part of the title, it seemed Hyang was categorized as a toad in Zhongyuan. But honestly, even I, Fabre, wasn’t completely certain about its precise classification.
That was a question for another time.

Instead of replying, Hwa-eun hurried toward me, her voice tense.
“So-ryong, how much internal energy do you have remaining?”

I was more interested in the name’s background, but Hwa-eun’s sudden urgency made me respond to her first.
If she was asking with such alarm, it had to be serious.
Besides, if I’d messed up again, I needed to assess the situation quickly.
That way, I might still avoid getting hit too badly later.

“Uh… around half? Why?”

Hwa-eun wiped the cold sweat from her brow with her sleeve, drew a deep breath, and stepped even closer.
“Listen carefully, So-ryong. Don’t be afraid. You have to remain as tranquil as you can. Steady your thoughts.”
“Uh? O-okay.”

I knew nervousness sped up the loss of internal energy, so I nodded, fighting to stay collected.
Then Hwa-eun delivered the shocking news.
“Hyang is an Azure Fire Magma Toad. One of the Ten Great Venomous Beasts, the sovereign of all toads, and a being of lethal toxicity.”

“What?!”
I jolted backward. “H-Hyang is one of the Ten Great Venomous Beasts?! The king of toads?! You can’t be serious?!”

How could something so uninspiring be counted among the Ten Great Venomous Beasts, let alone be a toad monarch?
Seeing my doubt, Hwa-eun gave a firm nod.
“Yes, it’s definite. I’ve never encountered one myself, but I recall the entry in the Secret Compendium of Venomous Creatures: ‘Magma courses over its back, with blue flames rising from it.’ I confirmed it again when I asked you to inspect it before. There’s no mistake.”

“But if you’ve never seen one… couldn’t you be wrong…?”

Even if it matched the book’s description, accepting that this orange lump was both a Ten Great Venomous Beast and a toad king felt difficult.
I began to suspect it might be a case of mistaken identity—another toxic creature that simply looked similar.

Hwa-eun pointed toward the flames over my head.
“Azure Fire. The text stated that when a person or creature is poisoned, an azure flame ignites above their head, consuming all their internal energy. And once the energy is entirely depleted…”
“Depleted… then what?”

Hwa-eun cut herself off abruptly.
I repeated her words anxiously.
She slowly closed her hand as if gripping an invisible egg—then splayed her fingers wide and uttered one word.

“Boom.”

“Hyaaack!”
—Whoosh!

The moment she spoke, the fire above my head roared even higher.
No matter how I tried to keep calm, this wasn’t a situation that allowed for composure.
Losing my hair was one thing—at least my head would still be in one piece.
But this?
This meant total annihilation.

The flames on my head were devouring my internal energy, and once it was fully consumed, I would explode.
Even animals and ordinary people possess some internal energy, but since theirs is weaker than martial artists’, they’d probably burst immediately.
For practitioners like us, it was nothing less than a death sentence.
This certainly deserved its place among the Ten Great Venomous Beasts.

Feeling my energy draining away rapidly, I cried out in despair.
“W-What can I do?!”
“How can we save our So-ryong?!”

Both Seol and I shouted at Hwa-eun in unison, panicked.
Hwa-eun pushed up her sleeves.
“There’s no alternative. Grandfather and Father aren’t here, which is concerning, but with Seol and me, we’ll give it our all. So-ryong, you must accept Hyang’s poison.”

Hearing this, my mind suddenly cleared.
“Oh! That technique!”
“Oh! That’s right!”

Both Seol-noona and I had been too startled to even think of it.
Of course!
Five Poisons Returning to the Origin Art.
Or more accurately, its foundational method, Wild Beast Heart Art.

If I accepted Hyang’s poison as one of the Five Poisons, the venom would be counteracted.
Because venom-based martial arts provide total immunity to the poisons used in cultivation, this was the ideal answer.
I’d dismissed the idea before only because Hyang seemed too unremarkable.
But if it was truly a Ten Great Venomous Beast, that single fact changed everything.

‘Wait… then why did I go through so much pain earlier?!’

And in that flash, it all made sense.
I remembered the torment I suffered when trees smashed into our boat during the flood.
If only I’d listened to Hwa-eun back then…
If I’d accepted Hyang’s poison sooner, I would have been spared all that agony.
I’d believed the world was unjust and that everything was conspiring against me.
But now I understood—it wasn’t the world.
It was me.

The heavens had been sending me signs all along.
‘Pay attention. If you don’t, you’ll endure hardship.’
They’d been cautioning me repeatedly, but I’d foolishly chosen the riskiest path, convincing myself it was acceptable.
‘The wise ones from my past life were correct… You should always follow navigation, your mother, and your wife… *Sniff*…’

Burying the surge of emotion rising inside, I turned to Hwa-eun.
“All right, I’ll do it, Hwa-eun.”

“Cho, stand guard and ensure no one approaches. Noona, stay close and monitor So-ryong. If anything goes wrong, we’ll manage it together.”
“Understood, Hwa-eun!”
—Hiss!

At Hwa-eun’s order, Cho levitated and began patrolling the vicinity.
I lifted Hyang and held it in my arms.
It had reached adulthood, but that only meant it had changed from a tadpole into a toad—it was still quite small.
Sitting down cross-legged, I settled Hyang, which was a little larger than a human head, onto my lap and concentrated on the mental incantations of Wild Beast Heart Art.
The blue flames rising from Hyang’s back merged with those burning above my head, creating a great azure inferno around us.
—Whooosh!

My eyes shut, and my awareness started to slip away.

***

As I recited the mnemonic verses of Wild Beast Heart Art, I closed my eyes and opened them again—and found myself facing an enormous pond.
But this was no ordinary pond—it was filled to the edge with bubbling, molten lava.
—Bubble, bubble.

An uncanny vision, but having gone through similar experiences twice already with Cho and Bini, I felt unshaken this time.
This had to be some form of mental projection or spiritual domain.

‘I suppose I need to locate Hyang now?’

Remembering what happened with Cho and Bini, I assumed the next step was to find Hyang within this space.
When I first entered this state with Cho, she was in my arms. But with Bini, we were apart, so I had to seek it out myself.
I’d been holding Hyang just moments before, yet now it was nowhere nearby.

‘Hyang is a toad, so it should be in the pond, shouldn’t it?’

Since Hyang was a toad, the most logical place to find it was within the pond.
I began surveying the area, pacing around the lake of magma.
While circling the shore, I noticed something through the rising flames—a tiny island at the heart of the lava pond.
Squinting through the rippling heat haze, I could see a figure sprawled at the island’s center.

‘That has to be Hyang.’

Based on my experiences with Cho and Bini, if a human form appeared in this realm, it was almost certainly Hyang.
I moved to the nearest point to the island and called out.
“Hyang! Hyang!”

But the figure lying there didn’t stir.
It looked like I would have to go to it myself.
“How in the world do I get across this?”

A expanse of boiling lava lay before me. There was no clear way over.
Just as I started puzzling over a solution, I spotted rocks jutting out of the lava, forming a rough path of stepping stones.
It seemed my only choice.
I’d have to use my Lightness Skill to jump across them and reach Hyang.

‘All right. It’s only a mental realm. Let’s try it.’

After a quick mental calculation, I planned the best jumping path and committed it to memory. Then, taking a short run-up, I sprang into the air.
—Tap!

The blistering heat of the lava washed over me as I flew, landing on the first stone.
The rocks protruded just enough to make crossing feasible. Though the heat was intense, it was bearable.
Soon, I arrived at the central island.
And there, lying on her side in deep slumber, was a woman with short, orange hair.

‘Wait. Hyang is female?! Excellent!’

The moment I saw her, a single thought burst forth in my mind—Excellent!
If a woman appeared in this space, it meant Hyang was female.
From my prior experiences with Cho and Bini, whenever a feminine form manifested in this mental world, it indicated the venomous beast was female.
Naturally, my excitement wasn’t because Hyang was a woman.
It was because, among amphibians, females are typically much larger and more powerful than males.
Since female amphibians need to produce big batches of eggs, they grow larger naturally. That meant I could raise Hyang into a far more substantial and impressive creature.
A Ten Great Venomous Beast, and female on top of that—aside from her plain looks, Hyang was proving to be a superb partner.

“Hyang?”

Feeling satisfied, I approached her as she slept and called her name.
She shifted slightly.
“Hyang, wake up. It’s me.”

I knelt beside her, giving her shoulder a soft shake.
Finally, she drowsily sat up, blinking at me with heavy-lidded eyes.
That same blank, silly stare…
It was identical to the one she had in her true form.
Yes. This was undoubtedly Hyang.

‘Good, I found her. Now what?’

I’d roused her, but I wasn’t sure what to do next.
Recalling what happened with Cho and Bini, the next step appeared to be… an embrace?
I paused, looking at Hyang.
Hugging her out of the blue felt a little strange.
With Cho and Bini, I’d raised them from eggs, so they felt almost like daughters. Even in human form, it wasn’t uncomfortable.
But Hyang… she looked like a grown woman.
And since she’d spent most of her time in a water tank, we hadn’t developed the same kind of familiarity.

‘How can I do this without it being awkward?’

Searching for a natural way to start a hug, I decided I should begin with a formal introduction.
Since this was a bond formed through martial arts, perhaps a few words to formalize it would help.
“Hyang, well… our minds are going to be linked through this martial art, so from now on, we—”

Before I could finish, Hyang began dozing off again.
‘You have to be joking.’

This lethargic toad!
If words weren’t enough to rouse her, I knew exactly what would work.
“Food!”

The instant that word left my mouth—
Hyang’s body sprang into the air like a released coil.
Before I could respond, she leaped at me.
“Oof!”

I fell backward as she landed on top of me.
My sight began to dim.
Evidently, that degree of physical contact was sufficient.
Even without a hug, the connection was made.
As everything went black, one final idea passed through my mind—
Hyang was nothing if not predictable.