Chapter 201
Chapter 201
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 201
Chapter Title: Training the Formless Intent
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In the center of the training ground stood Wi Seongcheon, his face swollen and eyes closed, drenched in sweat. A good distance away, the White Flame Witch stood with her arms crossed, her expression sullen.
"Aren't your eyes closed?"
As he cracked his eyes open just a sliver, she snapped at him. In the end, Wi Seongcheon obediently shut them again.
At that instant, a sharp smack rang out, and his head snapped to the side.
"Again!"
"No, please!"
The White Flame Witch cried out in frustration, and Wi Seongcheon popped his eyes open wide, shouting back.
"Why make me do training so far beyond my level?"
"Beyond your level, my foot."
She pouted and grumbled.
"What's so hard about turning the unconscious into the conscious?"
"Easy for you to say."
"You little shit. I'm personally training you, and you're not even grateful!"
"It's so crude that I can't help but nitpick."
At those words, the White Flame Witch furrowed her brows. But that was it—she didn't snap back further. She herself didn't have much faith in this training method.
"...Muscles grow when used and shrink when unused. The same goes for senses. They develop with use and degenerate without."
"That's true in principle, but I just don't get it."
She clicked her tongue and beckoned him over. Wi Seongcheon rubbed his stinging cheek and approached. His puffy face had already started to deflate from all the hits.
"Your recovery is nothing short of miraculous. Anyone else would think you'd mastered the Immortal Demon Art."
"Is it that similar?"
"How should I know? I've never actually seen the Immortal Demon Lord. Is he even still alive?"
The Immortal Demon Lord was one of the Demonic Cult's Ten Demons, the longest-serving among them. Whether he still held his seat was questionable, but his Immortal Demon Art was infamous.
A century ago, the Murim Alliance Leader beheaded him in the Demonic Realm, only for the severed head to fly back and reattach—or so the famous legend went, testament to his immortality.
"Want me to test it by chopping your head off?"
"Please don't."
"I'm kidding. I know you haven't learned the Immortal Demon Art."
The White Flame Witch pouted as she looked him up and down.
"Do you understand what this training is?"
"I do. You've explained it plenty of times."
"Then tell me."
"...Dodge the invisible slap without seeing it with your eyes or feeling it with your body."
"Without eyes or body. Then what do you use to see and feel it?"
"See with formless intent, feel with intent body."
"You know it so well—why can't you do it?"
She glared at him irritably.
"What is formless intent?"
"...Intent taking form based on a lifetime of mastered martial arts."
"Right. That's the basis. More simply put, my intent strongly willed your cheek to be struck, took form, and slapped it."
It was utterly different from qi arts. Unlike qi, intent couldn't be sensed with qi perception. To detect formless intent, one needed to open their upper dantian and enter intent-based martial arts. Without matching it, opposition was impossible.
"Formless intent is the essence and secret art of upper dantian martial arts. Common divisions of realms call mid-dantian opening and aura entry the Aura Realm. What about upper dantian?"
"...Mystic Realm."
"Yes, Mystic Realm. But not all Mystic Realms are equal. Advance further, approach the Heavenly Gate, fling it wide open—that's the Mythic Realm. Simply put, mastering intent body makes you solidly Mystic Realm; fully mastering formless intent makes you Mythic Realm."
She spat it out without hiding her irritation. What she described was orthodox martial theory.
"Realms divide like that, but martial arts are profound and infinite—neat divisions are laughable. Take you: stuck in Aura Realm, yet you've touched Mystic Realm imperfectly, even Mythic Realm."
A one-of-a-kind case in the martial world.
"As you said, formless intent is intent shaped by lifelong mastery. What I did to your cheek was intent taking form, but not profound enough for true formless intent. If I'd used it seriously, you'd be dead already."
"...Isn't it cruel to demand entry into such transcendent realms right away?"
"The Black Heaven Young Master has entered Mystic Realm."
She spat.
"Maybe even Heavenly Being."
"They've opened their upper dantians?"
"Who knows? Maybe not fully. But this much is sure: unlike you, they consciously wield intent body and formless intent. If you truly want to catch the Black Heaven Young Master, matching his level is the bare minimum."
"Easy to say, but..."
"You used formless intent unconsciously against him."
She said it with a frustrated face. Wi Seongcheon knew what she meant, which only deepened his frustration.
Hyper-developed qi sense. Focus on it, and suddenly its field expands vastly. He observed the massive flow enveloping him, distinguishing distant tiny presences. It happened against the Black Heaven Young Master too. The Divine Demon Annihilation Law was impossible to sense, see, or dodge, yet in no-mind state, he countered it.
"Because the gap was insurmountable. Aura Realm experts can somewhat handle lower realms, but never Mystic Realm. That's why the Ten Demons are dreaded, the Ten Heroes revered."
"...I get what you're saying. But will just taking these beatings really open my eyes?"
"So I'll hit harder."
The White Flame Witch shot to her feet. He'd spoken foolishly. Wi Seongcheon looked up at her with eyes full of dread.
"Guess I've been too gentle. Just enough to spin your head and swell your face. Time to make it hurt more."
"...What if I die?"
"Your body's tough enough—it won't die easily. Stand up."
Feeling the dread but obedient, he stood. He was used to the crude, painful training. He grumbled, but no real complaint.
"As I said from the start, I won't serve a weaker lord."
"That's why you don't call me lord."
"Who knows? Get stronger than me, and I might."
She snorted, shaping her intent.
"But looking at you, it'll never happen."
After the taunt, Wi Seongcheon's body slammed into the ground. Dizzying pain—he hadn't detected it again.
Feeling dirt mixed with blood fill his mouth, he resolved.
'I'll make her call me lord out of spite if nothing else.'
Whether that day would come, who knew.
* * *
"This is unexpected."
He'd wondered what brought the visit.
The Black Demon King grinned as he eyed Ye Myeong-ui. Ye Myeong-ui glanced at the Black Demon King perched on the high Black Star Pavilion railing and cleared his throat awkwardly.
"You told me to keep silent about the Demonic Cult. So if you say not to, I won't. Not that desperate anyway."
"No reason to stop you. I said keep quiet to avoid needless uproar and anxiety. Just keep your people in line—no problem."
"...I'll make sure of it. Don't want to get dragged into annoyances early."
"Either way, in a few months, you'll be dragged in whether you like it or not."
Black Shadow had left the island for the Murim Alliance. In months, this island would host the Alliance Leader and elders.
"...True. Then I'll have to speak of what I saw and endured in the Demonic Cult. I understand."
"That's why I sent the letter by hand. Consideration for you, and to wrap up Black Forest matters. Honestly pleased. Hoa—that child's caught my eye too."
The Black Demon King said it, then hopped off the railing.
"Do as you will, Jinchung. But promise this: stir her with talk of Howan all you want. Just don't ruin her talent with idle curiosity."
"...What do you mean?"
"Don't meddle. Stick to that, and I won't interfere. Truth is, I don't think Hoa's fangs and teeth have dulled. Your news of Howan might sharpen them further."
"...She might break them herself?"
"She's not that soft."
The Black Demon King recalled first meeting Peng Yeonhwa in the Peng ruins. A child crushed by despair. But her eyes burned with venom beyond her years. Though experiences had brought more smiles, the grudge-forged poison remained rooted deep.
"If she breaks her own fangs, she's that weak. What worries me, Jinchung, is you ruining her talent needlessly."
"...Just want to examine her body a bit."
"Examine only. Don't poke around half-assed like with Sleeping Dragon."
Half-assed stung his pride, but knowing the opponent, Ye Myeong-ui swallowed his anger.
"Meeting Silver Spirit Flow too?"
"...No need. What piqued me wasn't Wu Family Village's martial arts—it was Ghost Valley Demon herself."
"Intriguing, yeah. What broke the Demon-Exterminating Fairy, who hated the Demonic Cult so, to become one of the Ten Demons?"
"...Got me hooked. What brainwashing..."
"Why not ask her?"
"Ask and risk what? Anyway, thanks. Strike while the iron's hot—I'll see Hoa now."
Ye Myeong-ui turned to go, then froze and looked back.
"...Not asking about Baek Ri-hyang?"
"Not my business."
"...Killing Jade Qilin?"
"Not my business either. Self-inflicted. You were summoned by Jade Qilin. I'm rather grateful you handled him."
The Black Demon King muttered, gazing below. The forest still bore Jade Qilin's death marks.
"Too many sects with big mouths but no bite. Good chance to prune."
The clash between Primordial Fragrance Sect and Radiant Sword Sect wouldn't end there. Radiant Sword Sect had long frictioned with Iron Blood Sect.
Did Iron Blood Sect's young leader Yang Jeon suspect? Radiant Sword Sect held back on Iron Blood territory due to their young leader, Gu Jeoksa.
Now Gu Jeoksa died with Jade Qilin. With his restraining son gone, Radiant Sword Sect's leader wouldn't hold back.
"Perfect. Time to prune properly."
Tune it right, and catch whoever stirred Radiant Sword Sect too.
'Whoever or whatever... Bold, messing with this Black Demon King's turf.'
At first, Demonic Cult? But unlikely. Then who?
A third force.
'Church of Asura Blood... perhaps.'
The Black Demon King clicked his tongue, leaning on the railing. The world never ran out of madhouses.
* * *
"...Is it done?"
His first words upon opening his eyes. Peng Yeonhwa swatted away the tentacles of the medical device still attached to her body and turned her head. How long her eyes had been shut—such things didn't matter.
"Yes."
Beyond imagination.
Ye Myeong-ui suppressed the chilling thrill deep in his chest. The Pengs' centuries of effort yielded astonishing results. Though the clan perished, their aspiration lived on in the Hoa and Howan siblings.
'Not mere breeding.'
Not just inbreeding and crossbreeding. Mystic arts wove through the process. The Pengs' inhuman experiments rested on such mysteries.
'I know what this is.'
The arts added to Peng Yeonhwa's body differed from Ye Myeong-ui's shamanism. His was orthodox Kunlun Heavenly Teachings.
Then Severed Teachings? No. He knew those too.
'...Same as what I felt from the Demonic Cult's Heretic Division Chief.'
The red-clad mysterious bunch. The most alien in the Demonic Cult.
'...Even more baffling. Heretics in the Demonic Cult already odd... if their arts birthed those monster siblings.'
Why did Howan run with them? Ignorant of the horrific experiments that made him, laced with heretic arts?
No. Forgiveness? From one who despised his origins and massacred his clan?
"Why the face?"
"...Nothing."
Ye Myeong-ui buried his suspicions. Intriguing, but unverifiable. He never wanted to return to the Demonic Cult or face Howan again.
"Your body..."
"Tell me of Howan first."
Peng Yeonhwa's eerie eyes gleamed as she spat it.
'Nape...'
'Entrails...'
'Chew them...'
She ignored the ghostly wails tickling her ear.
Ye Myeong-ui didn't notice the pale tiger prowling at his side.