Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Yaksha (Night Crawling)
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Not that he fought like a scarecrow standing still and just firing energy blasts because he didn't move his body.
Though pierced by So-hyang's abnormally sharp strikes, his defense was outstanding.
He hadn't moved only because So-hyang deliberately stayed back to observe his techniques; he was skilled at evasion too.
Clearly a broad-spectrum powerhouse with excellent harmony between offense and defense, even at the transcendent realm.
Yet he achieved all of it without involving his body at all—purely through qi alone.
Rather than unfolding swordsmanship according to Wudang's sword principles, he wielded the Flying Sword.
Rather than swinging his sword directly to parry attacks, he focused on enveloping himself in protective Gang Qi.
Using Lingkong Virtual Path was swifter than laboriously stepping through footwork.
That said, the Sect Leader didn't particularly dislike moving his body.
It was simply more efficient this way.
Why bother with limited joints, frail muscles, and a body with clear limits when pure qi manipulation was superior?
Of course, other martial artists couldn't do it.
Their lifelong martial foundation was etched into their minds and bodies, so even after reaching a realm where they could shed such constraints, their martial arts overly relied on the flesh.
Like an elephant chained as a calf that, even as an adult, wouldn't escape a flimsy rope out of habit.
But he was different.
Qi had always been a power he wielded more freely than his own limbs.
Now at the transcendent realm, he could generate Gang Qi and unfold martial arts without any bodily aid whatsoever.
To put it bluntly, it wasn't a matter of talent superiority but a clear realm of difference.
...or so the Sect Leader thought.
"Aigoo, Qingxu...! You mustn't do this...!"
Her master clutched the back of his neck, voicing his worries, but he couldn't truly convince the Sect Leader.
After all, she had proven it.
She had reached the transcendent realm.
And she had comfortably bested numerous fellow transcendent experts in repeated spars.
Of course, she had been thoroughly defeated by True Person Qingxu, the Shaolin Abbot, and monstrous predecessors from the imperial palace—but that was merely a matter of time.
The gap in training years was overwhelming, so losing was natural.
"Hmm, this is truly fascinating?"
And So-hyang watched such a Sect Leader with eyes full of wonder.
"...So that's why you arranged this spar with the Sect Leader under the guise of taking turns?"
She hoped to correct her disciple's habit of unfolding martial arts in such an abnormal way.
Knowing So-hyang wouldn't be able to resist fixing it upon witnessing this spectacle.
A decision born from seeing through So-hyang's temperament—truly befitting a seasoned veteran of the jianghu, with elegant worldly wisdom.
[You wanted a spar, and I paired you with a worthy opponent. Do as you please next.]
It was what she'd hoped for inwardly, but she had no intention of forcing it.
So-hyang let out a snicker.
"No, speaking as a fellow human being? How could I just let this slide?"
"...What are you discussing with Master?"
Realizing he couldn't gain the upper hand in force, the Sect Leader no longer adopted a haughty attitude, but he still plainly showed displeasure as he interjected.
So-hyang tossed a question back at him.
"Even as an energy projector, is there a reason you don't use your body even as a supplement?"
Energy projector.
A martial artist who specialized in emitting internal energy.
But no matter how adept at energy projection, completely forgoing the body was abnormal.
Demon Seal Cave Master Lee Se-min fired barrages through the motion of fanning himself.
Zhuge Clan Head Zhuge Heon remotely manipulated Gang Qi-formed weapons while anchoring and directing the formation's flow.
Internal energy resided in the body.
In other words, emitting internal energy stemmed from bodily power.
For an energy projector to completely detach from bodily use defied common sense.
The Sect Leader's brows furrowed.
"You too? If you'd reached this realm at that age, wouldn't you understand my mindset?"
Why not use the body?
Obviously, because he could wield the full might of energy projection without it.
He didn't mean to belittle other energy projectors, but he didn't need such cumbersome processes.
Unlike an infant learning to walk with a walker, he could stride with pure power.
The body was frail.
Qi and soul were infinite.
Even a body that had undergone Bone Transformation at transcendent realm was just as frail.
'Merely' capable of tearing steel.
Barring special cases like the Fist King, the body was mere outer skin; qi was the essence of martial arts.
Jing was the vessel holding qi, and the body a flesh puppet housing the spirit.
Ultimately, something to shed upon reaching Flower Realm—why cling so desperately?
Even hearing his revered master's words, the Sect Leader couldn't comprehend conventional martial artists' mindset.
Unshakable confidence in himself naturally bred doubt and distrust toward others.
Watching from the side, True Person Qingxu clutched his forehead, sighing and shaking his head.
"Ah, this vibe...?"
So-hyang deemed it nearly impossible to change the Sect Leader's thought process through a few words.
"Shall we continue the spar, then?"
"...Huh? I lost, didn't I?"
The Sect Leader looked flustered. His full-power strikes had been cleanly blocked twice, and he had no strength left to continue.
His remaining internal energy was less than a tenth—frustrating, but he'd admit clean defeat.
"Ehehe, your limbs are all intact, not even a scratch anywhere, and you're conceding? Can you still call yourself a martial artist?"
"...W-Wait, I have no internal energy left, though...?"
"So? If this were a life-or-death duel, would you just offer your neck because your energy's spent?"
"No, that's not— I mean..."
To the Sect Leader, depleting internal energy was a foreign concept.
Even firing attacks that consumed all his energy, he could recover it through supreme control.
In spars with his master, he might lose momentum from penetrated defenses, but never faced depletion.
He'd never even considered a scenario of using all his energy. He'd die first.
This was an unprecedented crisis because So-hyang's Spirit Sword had wholly absorbed the energy in her absolute techniques.
"Uh, uhhh...?"
A foreign sensation like a lifelong water-breather losing gills, absence of power wielded freer than limbs.
"Then, draw your sword."
The lofty self-esteem born from his achievements began to waver.
The Sect Leader gazed at So-hyang—chin-jutting toward his waist, beaming—with violently trembling eyes.
"...I, I, surrend—"
She smiled gently, but her eyes gleamed with fervor.
She's mad. Definitely a lunatic!
"Master, I'm surrendering...!"
But.
Her master, who should mediate, had tightly shut eyes and turned his head away.
"M-Master?"
He desperately averted his gaze from his disciple's frantic look, as if the sky had fallen.
[She begged to be taught, so even if the method's rough, you can't intervene, right?]
[...Fine, just spare her life.]
The most intuitive way to correct flawed thinking was violence and pain, of course.
But as a disciple he'd raised from infancy, True Person Qingxu couldn't bring himself to inflict excessive violence on the child he cherished.
Especially since she'd been an obedient girl who never rebelled before transcendent realm, always yielding to teachings.
If it were a brat who'd rebelled daily and vexed him, maybe—but beating a disciple he'd never disciplined felt too soft-hearted.
"Don't worry. I won't kill her."
Her voice held no killing intent, not even enmity—just gentle tones.
"Maybe one or two limbs get severed, though?"
But the content was entirely different.
"What?"
[What?]
Master and disciple's pupils dilated simultaneously.
What did they just hear? She said she'd go easy!
[I'll sever cleanly and reattach right away. No aftereffects, so don't worry.]
True Person Qingxu's shock eased somewhat at So-hyang's follow-up, but the Sect Leader—who couldn't hear—grew ghastly pale.
"W-Wait, are you serious?"
So-hyang slowly advanced toward the Sect Leader, whose tongue stiffened and couldn't form words.
Thud.
"...Don't come."
Thud.
"D-Don't come closer."
Thud.
"Don't approach me...!"
Her final step made no thud; only words slipped from So-hyang's lips.
"Draw your sword."
A whisper with her breath, tiny voice.
Thunderously loud to the Sect Leader.
Simultaneously, So-hyang's pristine blade began slashing fiercely.
"KyaAAAAAH!"
The Sect Leader shrieked shrilly and began 'moving her body' to dodge the incoming strikes.
"HAAAH! KYAAAH! Master!!!"
"Look at that? When the situation demands it, you move just fine...?"
The Sect Leader, habituated to relying solely on qi and not moving, had quite impressive movement even years after transcendent realm.
Like an athlete in off-season or retired warrior turned farmer, skills naturally rust without constant practice.
Accounting for that, she'd planned to gradually ramp up intensity.
"Faster than expected, huh?"
Far more than anticipated.
[She always had fine physical talent too. Overshadowed by overwhelming qi gift, that's all.]
Which made it all the more infuriating.
A disciple who absorbed swordsmanship like a sponge, wielded it masterfully in the worrisome jianghu journeys and real combat.
Aside from excessive interest in energy projection, truly flawless prodigy.
True Person Qingxu had always been grateful for the fortune of teaching such an overqualified genius.
Yet that disciple, that very disciple...!
Ditched the sword right after hitting transcendent, confessed to him upon succeeding as Sect Leader...!
"Primordial Heavenly Venerable..."
Eventually, True Person Qingxu—who'd never touched it before—resorted to strong liquor.
Sipping secretly late at night, letting worries spill in drunkenness without dispelling the intoxication.
"Hah, the world is so cruel...!"
His youthful body, rejuvenated via Bone Transformation and Rejuvenation, soon passed out dead drunk.
"M-Master...? Are you asleep?"
...And, somehow knowing, the Sect Leader visited True Person Qingxu's quarters without missing the moment.
"Ahaha, has my pretty disciple come?"
Flushed smooth skin, sweat-soaked plain robes disheveled under lantern light, revealing flesh tones.
"Uh, wha?"
The master, oblivious to his disciple's odd gaze, grinned loosely in welcome.
"Mm, disciple? Are you hurt? Let me check your forehead."
"...Gulp."
Shaken by the soul-stirring sight, the Sect Leader's thoughts briefly ignored common sense.
"This... Master seduced me first."
"...Mm?"
Seeing her disciple spout mad intent to create a fait accompli and enter her bedchamber, True Person Qingxu felt his drunkenness vanish cleanly despite not purging it.
"—You lunatic!"
That night, True Person Qingxu's full-power Taiji Radiant Sword reduced the hut to dust.
And from then on, he never touched liquor again.
[...Fine, but did you need to explain all that to me?]
Jianghu rumors of Wudang's Sect Leader harboring feelings for her master? Not a whisper.
An affair involving a transcendent expert in the strictly disciplined Wudang? Naturally kept secret.
Why spill such a blemish to her? So-hyang eyed True Person Qingxu curiously.
[What's to hide when it's all exposed already...!]
Gazing at her master with honey-dripping eyes, no leering at other women.
[Who else could I tell?! I boasted all my proud moments to Fist King, that brute—even he envied me for such a disciple. How do I say she's trying to devour her master now...!]
True Person Qingxu poured out his pent-up grudge to So-hyang, feeling like vomiting blood.
[Oh my, really?]
So-hyang just laughed as if amused, listening attentively.
Not as if—it truly was entertaining.
More intriguing than any sensational drama from her past life TV.
Precious because it was real.
[Well, since it's come to this, why not accept your disciple's feelings?]
[Hah! Are you mad?!]
[Accept on condition of fixing her bad habits, and I wouldn't need this hassle—it'd correct itself.]
[...Don't talk nonsense.]
"Ahaha."
So-hyang read a hint of hesitation in True Person Qingxu's brief silence before replying.
For a moment, he seriously considered it?
[No.]
Not mere stray thoughts or qi flow-reading, but discerning emotions from minute bodily reactions.
A mind-reading technique from her past life, also called cold reading—one of So-hyang's specialties.
[No, really.]
Even a veteran jianghu elder versed in hiding emotions couldn't fully conceal unconscious heart rate, blood flow, and breath shifts.
[Of course, sure.]
Her transmission dripped with mirth; True Person Qingxu covered his candle-flame-reddened face with both palms.
[Please, no...!]
[Hahaha, got it. I'll stop.]
At his near-tearful tone, So-hyang ceased teasing him.