The Ninth Day of the Ninth Loop
Blink!
I opened my eyes again to that sensation I felt.
Another regression.
And at the same time, an overwhelming agony!
“Kuwaaaaak!”
Without a moment to reflect on my previous life, my head began to swell.
I immediately closed my eyes and used the sleep technique I had learned from my master’s legacy to put everyone around me back to sleep.
“Kugruk!”
‘Damn it, it’s dangerous.’
I tried to use the Eonsiksul to compress my consciousness.
But the agony only intensified.
The technique that compresses and hides one’s consciousness inside the upper dantian to increase cultivation speed was putting an even greater strain on my upper dantian.
Fourteen layers of Qi Condensation.
I had mastered all four of my gongfa and reached the peak of Qi Condensation.
Though not much, my consciousness had clearly grown a little compared to my previous life, and that little growth was making my head feel like it would explode at any moment.
‘Hurry… hurry to the place where the spirit medicine is…’
Foam started coming out of my mouth.
My whole body trembled violently as I clutched my head and staggered toward the location of the Huangzhou San like a broken machine.
Drip, drip drip…
Blood began to flow from my mouth, nose, and eyes.
My upper dantian was swelling.
‘Ah, I have to do something!’
I gritted my teeth and acupressure points all over my body.
The acupuncture points I had learned in medical school to amplify the body’s qi.
Ku gu gu!
The qi inside my body suddenly surged.
I expelled the surging qi outward and began to infuse my consciousness into it.
Uuuung!
My consciousness split and a Ganghwan was born.
At the same time, the burden placed on my mind eased a little.
‘Even if I make a Ganghwan by amplifying the qi inside my body, the qi is too weak and it will be destroyed in an instant. My consciousness will return soon, so I need to find the spirit medicine first!’
Suppressing the pounding headache, I rushed desperately toward the place where the Huangzhou San was.
And I dug into the earth and put the soil straight into my mouth.
Crack, crack…
The spirit medicine entered my mouth with the dirt.
But I chewed it quickly, controlled its qi, and guided it into my lower dantian.
Ku gu gu gu!
All my body’s acupuncture points circulated qi in one full cycle.
I guided the qi and immediately tried to undergo hwan-gol-tal-tae.
Ku gu gu gu!
Cruunch, crunch, crunch!
My body evolved to match the Ogijowon stage and the perfect harmony of the three dantians was established.
The swelling upper dantian synced with the middle and lower dantians and the burden disappeared.
“Huuu…”
Only then did I let out a sigh of relief.
‘I was about to die from my head exploding.’
I absorbed the pre-made Ganghwan back into my body and created a new internal dan.
The internal dan took root and controlled the flow of qi throughout my body.
My whole body felt completely relaxed.
I found more spirit medicine nearby, filled my internal dan to the brim, and forcibly amplified my qi to stabilize the unstable yang energy.
‘Anyway… I really need to figure out how to handle this consciousness.’
Even at the level of Qi Condensation, this happens. If I reached Foundation Establishment, I might literally die the moment this loop started.
That would mean endless explosions.
I shook my head.
‘How on earth am I supposed to solve this?’
I also developed a deep sense of caution regarding consciousness, and only then was I able to think about what I had gained from my previous life.
‘In the end, I realized the ultimate meaning of Deungbongjogeuk.’
Uung!
The Ganghwan floated out of my chest.
“One to three.”
The Ganghwan split into three.
“Three each influence each other and cycle, so if I focus on that cycle…”
Everything in the world influences each other.
I projected each other onto each Ganghwan.
Flash!
The three Ganghwans split back into three.
‘Ah…’
I smiled faintly.
Seven out of nine were stable, but the two I had newly gained were still a little unstable.
But stability was a matter of familiarity, and it would be resolved if I handled them for a few years.
That meant I had truly reached the limit of Deungbongjogeuk.
Flash!
Closing my eyes and entering the world of thought, nine versions of myself stood around me.
“Enter.”
Flash!
The nine versions of me overlapped me again in an instant.
The speed of thought surged wildly.
“Ten times acceleration.”
Suddenly, the world slowed.
Boom!
I pushed off the air and leaped upward.
Just like when I was at Ogijowon, I sensed the flow of air and qi and didn’t even need to step on optimized spots.
No matter where I stepped, everything became slow, and I could leap and jump as fast as I wanted.
It felt like I was truly flying through the sky.
‘Good.’
I floated in the slowed world and rose high into the sky to organize my thoughts.
The Woldoipcheon Martial Arts left by Kim Young-hoon.
Those martial insights also seemed to be taking shape.
‘The realm beyond Deungbongjogeuk is to integrate the Ganghwan with consciousness to materialize it.’
But I was still a little unclear about exactly how to integrate it, even after recalling the Woldoipcheon Martial Arts.
It wasn’t a matter of being a genius or an idiot, having experience or not.
There were simply too many cases that only applied to Kim Young-hoon.
It was too Kim Young-hoon’s subjectivity.
‘Should I ask him after I pull him up to Deungbongjogeuk…’
Anyway, I had to master all the Five Elements Gongfa in this life, so I could wait for him to reach Deungbongjogeuk.
‘Hmm, good. Then I’ll pass on the Woldoipcheon Martial Arts to him after removing Kim Young-hoon’s feel from the parts that are too noticeable…’
While I was floating in the air, thinking about that.
Zit!
“Eh?”
The world of thought.
A line of red thought touched me.
Hostility!
Following the line of thought, I looked down.
And in the forest below.
A white giant body was facing me.
Oof!
‘A fox!’
I instinctively covered my whole body with the Protective Gangqi.
In the next moment.
The fox appeared in front of me and spun in the air, swinging its tail down.
Kwaaang!
The sonic boom rang out and I was slammed into the ground below at extreme speed.
[Hey, who the hell are you that you dare intrude into my territory? Don’t you know who the master of this forest is? You entered my forest without my permission?]
“N, no, what kind of nonsense is that?”
I naturally answered in the language I had learned from Seo Ran, and the fox’s eyes narrowed.
“…You speak youjak-eo, so you’re definitely a youkai. Entering my territory without my permission as a fellow youkai, have you prepared to die?”
‘Damn it.’
“Forest master, it’s all a misunderstanding. I only fell here because I was caught in a spatial rift in Deungsunhyang!”
“Oh ho, what a good excuse. But this, except for the center of Deungsunhyang, the surrounding area has stable space, right? How can you say you intruded into my territory without permission while carrying my scent?”
‘Do you recognize me as the same youkai?’
It seemed that intruding into the territory of a monster that could eat me at any time was one thing, but intruding as the same youkai was another.
“For now, as a youkai with little knowledge of the forest, I didn’t know the master’s scent. Please consider that.”
“You’re mocking me with your half-false lies while carrying a youkai’s spirit in the vicinity of Foundation Establishment peak?”
The fox stepped into the air and began to shine dazzlingly white.
“Die, intruder!”
Flash!
The completely white fox fell onto me.
‘Fuck. What the hell is this.’
Gritting my teeth, I dodged the fox’s attack and started falling away from the place where my colleagues were.
If I got dragged into a fight with the fox and me, my colleagues, who were still mere suspects, would be torn apart.
Uuuung!
The fox spread its consciousness area.
Even from far away, the huge consciousness area was felt.
The fox began to gather power.
Flash!
At the same time, the fox’s consciousness area compressed and took the form of the fox. The consciousness area overlapped with the fox, and the fox glowed white once more.
Blink!
It looked like it had become the white light itself.
The fox approached me in tenfold acceleration and slammed its paw forward.
‘Fast!’
I hurriedly dodged the fox’s paw and leaped over a small hill in the distance.
But in the next moment.
Blink!
Kwa gu gu gu!
White light exploded and a small hill was completely blown away.
And beyond that, white beams in the shape of the fox flew toward me.
The power to destroy a whole mountain and still aim at the opponent!
‘This is a Foundation Establishment fox… If I face it head-on, I’m dead.’
I dodged the fox’s attack and kept running.
Flash!
The fox transformed into a white light ray again and chased me.
‘Look for a gap in an instant!’
The sonic boom rang out and the fox reached in front of me.
The guy’s mouth opened.
I assumed a posture and spat a Ganghwan from my chest.
Though the acceleration rate had dropped, I didn’t care and connected the Ganghwan with gangqi and swung it.
Wolak!
Kwa kwa kwang!
The light exploded and the fox retreated slightly.
But I frowned.
Only a slight trace remained.
The fox hadn’t received much damage.
It was possible to wound an ordinary Foundation Establishment human with a surprise attack if there was no defense, but to a Foundation Establishment youkai with full qi, it wasn’t.
Instead, the fox, annoyed that it had received one hit, began to gather even more qi.
“You bastard, I’ll kill you!”
Flash!
White light shone and several copies of the fox, resembling the fox, lined up around it.
Giant-sized copies of the fox simultaneously glowed white and became a single beam of light.
Kwa kwa kwa kwang!
The Deungsunhyang River and the small lake evaporated.
Two or three hills collapsed and explosions shook the surroundings.
I ran like crazy, dodging the fox’s attacks, toward the edge of Deungsunhyang.
‘Damn it, its physical toughness is harder than humans, and it has defenses, so even the Ganghwan doesn’t work.’
There was nothing I could do.
Still, I could run faster than anyone because I had the level of consciousness that had surpassed peak Qi Condensation, and my acceleration efficiency was far better than Kim Young-hoon’s, so I could dodge the fox’s attacks while following its speed.
‘Nothing but speed works.’
But even I was doing my best to run.
Even that was sometimes caught by the fox’s weird magic.
“I’ll drop you outside Deungsunhyang, intruder!”
“Damn it, I already said it’s a misunderstanding…”
Kwa kwa kwa kwang!
As the fox opened its mouth, white light spurted out and grazed past me.
I swallowed dryly and gritted my teeth.
‘Damn fox bastard…’
Anyway, I had gotten far enough from my colleagues.
Even if the fox went wild searching for me, my colleagues wouldn’t die.
I looked at the fox rushing toward me and drew a sword toward the sky.
“Wol su gong mu rok.”
Shuk!
The consciousness was severed and I entered the fox’s consciousness square.
From the fox’s perspective, it seemed like I had suddenly disappeared like a scarecrow, so it looked around in confusion.
Wol su gong mu rok was the method to cut consciousness, hide it, and escape.
Jo su wol mu rok was the method to cut one’s own consciousness and input it into the array.
Wol su wol mu rok was the method to input consciousness into the array and form it as a thought avatar, and so on.
Wol do wol mu rok was Wol su wol mu rok with added trial and error.
Wol su gong mu rok and other martial arts manuals could be used anytime, regardless of the realm.
‘Anyway, most of the martial arts made by Kim hyung can be used usefully regardless of the realm.’
That point was always amazing.
“You intruder! Why aren’t you coming out right now!”
The fox’s voice vibrated on the qi.
The fox dug into its square and searched for me while raging.
‘If I don’t dig too deep, it won’t notice.’
If my current skill level, I could survive for several days with Wol su gong mu rok as long as I didn’t step into the fox’s killing zone.
‘Damn it, it was unexpected that I would be running away from the fox right from the start of this life…’
I was too careless.
I was too excited at the limit of Deungbongjogeuk.
‘I should have just made an internal dan and stayed quietly… my other colleagues… would they hold out for a few days…? Or should I hide my body with Wol su gong mu rok and come back…’
At that moment.
“Where, let’s scorch the surroundings and see if you still won’t come out!”
The fox began using magic again.
The fox’s body glowed white, and thousands of sharp white spikes like thorns rose around it.
Each one matched the power of a Ganghwan.
The countless spikes rose into the air and covered the surrounding area.
Pudududuk!
Chwa aak!
Kiik kiik kiik!
The yousuk, birds, and insects with Qi Condensation level sensed the ominous flow of yin and yang.
They started running in all directions.
Birds and swarms of insects flew out and fled beyond the range.
‘Damn fox bastard…!’
Just like my ghost in the previous life, if they were all flying toward me, I could repel them, but this was clearly a magic that randomly dropped onto the ground to be hit at least once.
White spikes began to fall.
Flash!
Ku gu gu gu gu gu!
White rain poured down.
I ran like crazy, stepping on San-gun Wolak-bi while accelerating, dodging the spikes.
The nearby forest was scorched in an instant.
‘It’s good that I’m far from my colleagues…’
Wiping sweat, I appeared again in front of the fox that was going mad searching for me.
Even though I was far from my colleagues, it seemed I needed to drop them even farther.
***
Three days passed.
I had run non-stop for three days without resting from the fox.
The fox didn’t tire even though it had searched for me with burning eyes for three days, despite being a Foundation Establishment monster.
“Now you should be tired, why won’t you come out?”
I hid my body with Wol su gong mu rok and caught my breath.
Because I had run without rest for three days, my internal dan was almost depleted.
‘Damn monster skin…’
Frowning, I cursed the fox inside.
The fox’s consciousness was swirling with gold.
At first it was full of caution and anger toward the intruder, but over the days it had gradually figured out Wol su gong mu rok.
Now the fox wasn’t catching me, it was toying with me.
Probably it would finish me with a proper strike once it got tired of toying.
But I smirked and caught my breath.
‘Now it’s almost time.’
“Come out right now, mysterious youkai. If you come out now, I’ll forgive your rudeness for trespassing into my territory by tearing you apart.”
I smiled wickedly and canceled Wol su gong mu rok, standing in front of the fox.
“Oh ho, you finally gave up?”
“No, look at the flow of yin and yang. Isn’t the surrounding qi shaking?”
“What the hell…”
The fox, which was growling at me, stopped and its eyes widened.
The heaven and earth qi was shaking wildly.
Ku gu gu gu gu!
I didn’t know when it was weak, but the stronger it got, the more clearly I felt it.
The heaven and earth qi and the flow of yin and yang twisted.
Just by showing momentum and approaching, the mountains and trees trembled.
“Ah, aaah…”
The fox drooled and looked up at the sky.
Heavenly people were approaching.
“Hi, hiiik…!”
The fox tried to run away in fear, but the one wearing black demonic robes snapped his fingers.
“Kuwaaaaak!”
The fox’s soul and spirit were sucked straight into the black-robed man’s sleeve.
Kuu rung!
A golden lightning struck from the sky and burned the fox’s flesh.
Only the fox’s bones and the brilliant beads that looked like a spirit stone in the yin realm remained in place.
The man in the golden robe gestured and the fox’s spirit stone was sucked into his hand.
“Oh, one step late. Then I’ll keep this.”
Uung!
The giant in the blue armor opened the magic tool at his waist, and the fox’s bones were sucked into the magic tool.
“By the way… what is this? When I looked from far away, it was running away from the fox.”
“Hmm, no magical power felt… and the consciousness is at the beginning of Foundation Establishment, is it a special gongfa user?”
“Hmm, but don’t give me the spirit stone.”
It was Geum Byeok-ho and Baekgol Gwima, and Changhoza.
Geum Byeok-ho and Baekgol Gwima whispered while looking at me, and Changhoza asked Geum Byeok-ho for the spirit stone.
“This is noisy, Cheongmun Seon-woo. By the way, I feel a spirit stone in that guy’s lower dantian, is he human or youkai?”
“If he’s half-breed, he should show some youkai features, but he doesn’t. At the level of Nascent Soul, he’s a youkai that can completely disguise as human, but he was being chased by a Foundation Establishment thing… what is this?”
“Listen, Geum-doh. Is this really it? That spirit stone has the qi that matches well with one of my disciples.”
Changhoza, not caring about me, kept clinging to Geum Byeok-ho, and Geum Byeok-ho, unable to bear it, shouted.
“This is noisy! Act properly to match your reputation as Changhoja!”
Kwa rung!
Just because he was angry, lightning fell from the sky and struck Changhoza.
“This guy, suddenly another riot…”
Kwa kwa kwang!
Changhoza, not bearing it, swung his fist and hit Geum Byeok-ho, and Baekgol Gwima tried to stop them but suddenly got caught in the fight and all three were fighting.
Ku gu gu gu!
The heaven and earth qi was messed up and a storm seemed to blow in around us.
‘Damn it…!’
When I was about to be blown into the storm of the fight.
“Ah, wait a moment. That guy was there.”
Changhoza, as if remembering me, reached out to me who was flying toward the sky.
At that moment, the heaven and earth qi around me moved and naturally brought me in front of him.
“Come on, stop fighting. What kind of disgrace is this in front of a fresh junior?”
Changhoza grabbed my collar with a calm face and laughed heartily, and after a while Baekgol Gwima and Geum Byeok-ho also stopped fighting with annoyed looks.
“You started it first and then…”
“What nonsense, you suddenly lost your mind and hit me with lightning, didn’t you?”
The three were fighting each other but seemed to be sincerely showing hostility.
‘They were originally close friends.’
[By the way, what is your identity? Human or youkai? How, why did you come to Deungsunhyang?]
Changhoza asked me through consciousness, and I answered in Byeokra language.
“I am a human with a slightly unusual constitution, and it’s just an unusual constitution, not a half-breed. While traveling with my colleagues, I got caught in a spatial rift and fell into Deungsunhyang.”
“Oh ho, you know Byeokra language. Well, an unusual constitution. Indeed, upon close observation, the qi is subtly different from the spirit stone. It just has the spirit of a yousuk at Foundation Establishment level, not the actual density of Foundation Establishment qi.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“A human with a spirit stone but not a half-breed, what kind of constitution is this…”
When Changhoza was examining me.
Hiccup!
The three Heavenly Person sword masters, Changhoza, Geum Byeok-ho, and Baekgol Gwima, looked at one spot at the same time.
“…This qi!”
“You’re not mistaken!?”
“First, we’ll talk about it later. Let’s go!”
Flash!
The three Heavenly Person sword masters quickly moved me to one side.
It was like a flash of light, and I arrived at the place where I had first opened my eyes.
And there were my direct colleagues dying, being bitten by a two-headed red snake.
[Ha, huh…!]
The two-headed red snake trembled and looked up, and at that moment lightning struck and erased the red snake from the world.
“Hmm, these guys. I felt this qi from them…”
Changhoza grabbed my collar and descended.
Blue light qi burst from his body and seeped into my colleagues.
Then my colleagues, who had been dying from being bitten by the snake, all wounds disappeared and they were completely revived.
And the selective process began.
As before, Jeon Myeong-hoon, Kang Min-hee, and Oh Hyun-seok were each caught by Geum Byeok-ho, Baekgol Gwima, and Changhoza.
And I took the opportunity to kneel before them.
‘I can’t trust Goe-gun or Seo Hyoel either.’
Of course, these people might be different.
‘But when I read the Geumshin Cheonroe Sect records, they said they cherished their disciples. The Heavenly Person clone left in the Seopmyeong Ship of Heuksaek Gwigol Valley also became a ghost while trying to protect what was related to his own sect. And Changhoza just has a good character…’
I couldn’t let Seo Hyoel and Goe-gun take the remaining colleagues.
“Senior-nim, please listen to your junior’s words. I have long admired the Geumshin Cheonroe Sect…”
I looked at Geum Byeok-ho and said in Seongje language.
“The Heuksaek Gwigol Valley has also been respected for its reputation.”
I looked at Baekgol Gwima in the language used on the islands of Heukpunghae.
Remembering that the Heavenly Person clone called Heuksaek Gwigol Valley Cheongsaek Gwigol Valley.
“And the Cheongmun Clan, the descendants of Changhoja, is one of the great families that worship the sword path.
The three Heavenly Persons have seen me, and have seen the three with unusual constitutions such as Cheongsang Geumroe Jiche, Gwi-do Umhwa Seon-geun, and Il-mun Seong-che.
They are originally my separated colleagues, and the remaining ones here also have quite good qualities.
I am lacking in quality, so I don’t expect to be picked by seniors, but please be merciful and look at the qualities of the remaining two!”
At my words, the three Heavenly Persons looked at each other and seemed to think for a moment.
“…Hah, you are a polite one, so I forgive you for talking freely in front of me. But qualities or whatever, your other colleagues have no spiritual quality at all?”
Geum Byeok-ho snorted.
“Rather than checking their qualities, it would be better to check the qualities of the guy who was running away from the Foundation Establishment fox.”
Hwaak!
The heaven and earth qi moved and brought me in front of Geum Byeok-ho.
After a while, according to Geum Byeok-ho’s will, the heaven and earth qi stirred my whole body, and Geum Byeok-ho clicked his tongue.
“What, it’s a Five Elements spiritual quality? The special ability looks usable, but the training speed will be too slow… It’s a shame, but you’re not needed.”
At the mention of Five Elements spiritual quality, Baekgol Gwima and Changhoza, who had been interested in me, seemed to lose some interest.
“Still, the fact that you were running away from the Foundation Establishment fox was impressive, so I’ll give you a recommendation to enter the Cheongmun Clan anytime. With your skill, you can receive elder position in the remaining collateral branch families.”
Baekgol Gwima lost interest in me, and Changhoza drew a blue mark on the back of my hand and made the same offer as before.
But I bit my lip and knelt before them again.
‘No, I can never send the remaining colleagues to Seo Hyoel and Goe-gun.’
“Holy three Heavenly Persons, I will explain the qualities of my colleagues.”
“Stop saying nonsense. You said your colleagues have no spiritual quality or anything?”
Geum Byeok-ho said with an annoyed voice.
But I explained in a desperate voice the qualities of Kim Yeon and Oh Hye-seo in front of the three Heavenly Persons.
The eyes of the three Heavenly Persons, who had heard my explanation, changed again.
“Uhh, is that really it? It’s not a delusional lie?”
“You bastard. What kind of novel…”
“It’s too delusional… Well, good.”
Changhoza laughed loudly.
“I met a pure-blooded human with a spirit stone in his belly, and I met three people with crazy mythical qualities, so let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and believe it. Listen, Heok-gwak.”
Changhoza looked at Baekgol Gwima and pointed at Oh Hye-seo and Kim Yeon.
“The one with the most orthodox consciousness gongfa among us is you, so you should check that woman first.”
“Hmph, nonsense. Consciousness that covers heaven and earth? If such a thing existed, that criminal would have exploded his head long ago.”
Baekgol Gwima approached Kim with eyes full of disbelief, and Kim Yeon tried to back away but he snapped his fingers and dark shadows caught her and fixed her.
Kim thought the black shadows weren’t visible and just thought her body wasn’t moving and screamed wildly, and Baekgol Gwima placed his hand on Kim’s head.
And at that moment, ghost qi rose from the tip of Baekgol Gwima’s hand and entered her mind.
‘That flow is…’
It was similar to the framework of the Jin Clan’s secret technique.
Anyway, it seemed the Jin Clan’s secret techniques were influenced by Heuksaek Gwigol Valley.
In the next moment.
“Aaaaah!”
Blood dripped from Kim’s eyes, nose, and mouth.
At the same time.
Flash!
Pereng!
A weak qi burst from her upper dantian and a thought line spread to the four sides of heaven and earth.
The size of that thought was beyond the range of the Heavenly Person sword masters’ consciousness, and it seemed to fill the entire world.
Staring blankly at the scene, Baekgol Gwima, Geum Byeok-ho, and Changhoza suddenly approached her and shook her wildly.
[If you enter the Geumshin Cheonroe Sect, I will give you the position of my direct disciple!]
[Our sect is the same! When you become my disciple, the distribution will be the same as the current sect master!]
[No need for anything! I’ll give you spirit medicines that produce spiritual roots anytime, so come to Changcheon Gaebyeokmun! I’ll even give you the position of sect master!]
Flash!
As Baekgol Gwima manipulated the ghost qi, her swollen upper dantian that was about to explode began to stabilize.
‘Good, it’s done.’
Now that I had confirmed Kim’s quality, I would definitely check Oh’s quality too.
If so, they wouldn’t fall into the hands of Seo Hyoel or Goe-gun at least.
‘Geumshin Cheonroe Sect, Heuksaek Gwigol Valley, Changcheon Gaebyeokmun…’
At least they were sects that took care of their own people.
Seo Hyoel didn’t use schemes, and Goe-gun wasn’t crazy.
‘Seo Hyoel and Goe-gun will appear tomorrow, so if they take them…’
And at that moment.
Whisk, whisk, whisk!
The three Heavenly Persons, who had been arguing with Kim, looked toward the Ascension Gate.
A small dot was flying from there.
“What…”
I checked the identity of the dot and lost my calm.
‘Not tomorrow?’
[Goe-gun (Go-e-gun!)]
Geum Byeok-ho shouted like screaming.
Kuu uung!
And in an instant, a giant puppet arrived here. An old man with a hunchback sat on it and smiled down at us.
[This, I thought the Upper Realm Sage had descended. A small criminal. What unbelievable talent. I’ll make you my disciple.]
**Chapter Title: The Ninth Day of the Ninth Loop**