Chapter 360: Gathering of the Orthodox Faction (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 360: Gathering of the Orthodox Faction (1)
Thud.
Screech—!
The blade scraped against the sturdy wall, leaving a deep gouge.
I felt some resistance, but I pushed through regardless.
Slam! Slam! Slam!
Focusing on maintaining a steady flow of Qi, I threw punch after punch.
My fist tore through the wall with ease, leaving clean holes in its wake.
Crack—!
Cracks spiderwebbed out from the impact points. I didn’t let up.
Qi surged from my dantian up to my upper dantian. My body screamed for release, burning with pent-up energy, but I held it back.
This was the only way to maximize my power.
“Huuu…”
A soft exhale escaped my lips, steam curling from my mouth.
A wisp of Qi drifted out with my breath.
I twisted my upper body, channeling Qi from my upper dantian into my fist for one final strike.
CRAACK—! SLAM!
With a resounding crash, the massive wall crumbled into rubble.
Pitter-patter…
As the dust settled, I drew the lingering heat and Qi back from the air and took a steadying breath.
“Phew…”
Guiding my Qi back into my dantian, I focused on cooling my body down while assessing its condition.
Frowning, I closed my eyes and turned my senses inward.
It’s not settling.
Even though I’d reached the Fusion Realm days ago, the insights I’d gained hadn’t fully integrated.
My training in the Abyss had pushed me to a level I’d never imagined. Only after achieving that state did I return to the normal world.
The enlightenment I found there allowed me to break through to the Fusion Realm almost immediately upon my return.
But the difference is undeniable.
There was a subtle, yet distinct, gap between the level I’d attained in the Abyss and my current state.
What’s missing?
Back then, I had focused on tempering my mind, not my body.
I knew that returning would strip away all external gains, and I believed it was my mind that was holding me back from the Fusion Realm.
In the end, I was right.
That was why I broke through the moment I returned.
But this is only half of what I achieved.
I hadn’t reached the perfected form of the Fusion Realm. My foundation was unstable.
A deep discomfort lingered, as if my body had lost its balance.
If I had to pinpoint a reason…
First, I’ve never reached the Fusion Realm using only the Gu Clan’s arts.
This was my first time breaking through using solely the Gu Flame Wheel Art.
Previously, I’d relied on Demonic Qi to reach this level. Perhaps I was simply unaccustomed to this purer method.
But that was only a possibility, not a certainty.
If I had to name a second reason…
There are too many types of Qi warring inside me.
I carried the Flame Qi of the Gu Flame Wheel Art, the Taoist Qi from Mount Hua, Demonic Qi, and Blood Qi.
Most martial artists would explode with just two conflicting Qi types in their body, yet I housed four.
Each was distinct, and aside from Taoist Qi, all were inherently violent.
Reaching the Fusion Realm had expanded my vessel, making my Qi control far more efficient than it was in the Peak Realm.
But the other Qi types have grown stronger as well.
I could feel it.
Every time I drew upon my Qi, the others stirred restlessly, eager to be unleashed.
Their presence had become more assertive, more demanding.
It was as if they were urging me to call upon them, too.
It was not a welcome feeling.
Taoist Qi wasn’t dangerous. As long as Elder Shin was there to help control it, it coexisted peacefully with the others, and I’d grown used to its presence.
The other two, however, were a different story.
They were like demons.
Demonic Qi bristled at the presence of any other energy, while Blood Qi constantly sought to expand its territory.
Knowing that neither was remotely safe, I restrained myself from using them unless absolutely necessary.
Yet every time I tapped into my power, they stirred, begging to be unleashed. It left me deeply unsettled.
But getting rid of them isn’t an option.
I couldn’t purge the Demonic Qi rooted in my heart, and the Blood Qi was beyond my ability to remove.
My only choice was to avoid using them altogether.
I succeeded in making the Demonic Qi my own, but the Blood Qi…
While I understood Demonic Qi intimately from my past life, Blood Qi remained a mystery.
Perhaps my enlightenment was delayed precisely because of the sheer number of conflicting energies within me…
But that, too, was only an assumption.
…There is one thing I am certain of, though.
I’d reached the Fusion Realm through mental training, and now, I was stuck again because of the same problem.
“…Tsk.”
Once my body had fully calmed, I slowly opened my eyes.
Evening had fallen.
I gazed up at the moon, my thoughts drifting back to earlier events.
Wi Seol-Ah.
I placed a hand over my chest, thinking of her.
I had absorbed a wisp of her aura as she vanished, but I felt nothing from it.
Maybe it was because I’d taken in so little, but the emptiness left me uneasy.
I’d tried speaking to Wi Seol-Ah, hoping to reach her as I did with Elder Shin, but only the damned beast answered.
[ Grr…? ]
Go back to sleep. I didn’t call you.
[ …Grr… ]*
Had Wi Seol-Ah truly disappeared?
The thought made my stomach clench.
It wasn’t entirely unexpected. She herself had said her power was nearly gone.
There was so much I wanted to ask her, so much I needed to say, but I was powerless if she had truly vanished.
Back then, Wi Seol-Ah had opened her eyes in my arms.
The image of her wide, round eyes and the sound of her voice lingered vividly in my mind.
-Master Gu…?
The memory made my heart ache.
Part of me was relieved that she had returned to normal, but beneath that relief lay a strange sense of disappointment and exhaustion.
Wi Seol-Ah had looked at me briefly, then spoke, as if sensing something had changed.
-Sis…? Sis is…
That was what she’d said.
Her words confirmed that Wi Seol-Ah had been aware of her, too.
Just how much did she know?
Did she know her full identity? Did that mean she knew my story as well?
Should I have asked her about it?
Perhaps I should have.
But those weren’t the first words I’d said to her.
-Sorry.
-Master Gu…?
-Sorry. Later… Let’s talk… later. Not now.
I’d patted Wi Seol-Ah’s head a few times, then taken her back to the building before coming here.
It bothered me.
I knew I shouldn’t have left Wi Seol-Ah like that.
Even so, I couldn’t stand there pretending everything was fine.
Had she really disappeared?
It was certainly possible.
Yet, I prayed it wasn’t the case.
All evidence pointed toward her disappearance, but I clung to a sliver of hope.
I held on because of the voice I’d heard at the last moment.
-Embrace it.
A gentle, warm voice, accompanied by the sensation of soft hands wrapping around my arms.
…Mother.
It was unmistakably my mother’s voice from long ago.
What was happening?
I’d pondered it endlessly during my training.
The World Tree in the Abyss had once told me:
-Your mother is alive.
It had said my mother was alive.
That was something I already knew.
…Well, it’s less that I knew she was alive.
I had seen my mother enter the Abyss through a gate that appeared in midair.
I didn’t know if she had survived after stepping through.
But if the voice I heard truly was my mother’s…
Then where is she now?
How was she able to speak to me?
I’d tried calling out to her afterward, but there was no reply.
Do you know something?
I placed a hand on my stomach.
The World Tree had mentioned a connection between the beast and my mother, so I asked it, hoping it held some clue.
[ Grr? ]
But the bastard only responded with a confused grunt, clearly oblivious.
I bit my lip in frustration.
She told me to embrace it.
She’d told me to embrace the fading aura of the Celestial Sword.
That was what her voice had urged me to do.
If it really was my mother who helped me break free from that paralyzing aura, there had to be a purpose behind it.
Especially if what the World Tree said about her was true.
The ruler of Ten Thousand Worlds, was it?
An existence that not even the World Tree could easily approach, and the second calamity of the world.
Those two descriptions alone told me my mother was far from ordinary.
I didn’t understand why she would try to help me.
If the voice really belonged to my mother, that is.
It could have been an illusion, or someone else entirely. I couldn’t be sure.
In the end, I had embraced Wi Seol-Ah’s aura as the voice urged, but I had no idea what to do next.
There seemed to be only one path forward.
I have to find my mother.
It was an absurd conclusion.
I knew there was more than one Abyss, and that they were nearly impossible to reach, but I had to try, no matter the cost.
Right now, the only person who might know what happened to the Celestial Sword was my mother.
And if I were to find her…
I’ll have to go see my father.
The one person who seemed to know anything about her fate.
As of now, only my father, the Lord of the Gu Clan, held any answers.
Having reached that conclusion, I considered visiting my friends to clear my mind, clouded as it was with complex thoughts.
I hadn’t been able to see them properly since the incident, and at the very least, I needed to check on Wi Seol-Ah now.
Just as I was about to head out…
“…!”
I froze as an ominous sensation washed over me.
Someone was standing in the shadows ahead.
Since when had they been there?
I hadn’t noticed their presence at all.
The figure was leaning against the wall, their gaze fixed intently on me.
This incomprehensible pressure… I’d felt it before.
Which could only mean…
“…I greet you, Senior.”
I offered a respectful bow as soon as I recognized him.
Hearing my greeting, the man finally stepped forward.
As he emerged from the darkness into the moonlight, his face became clear.
As expected, it was the Dark King.
I kept my shock in check and observed him closely.
As before, his face was a mask of indifference, his cold eyes revealing no hint of emotion.
The Dark King spoke.
“I waited. You seemed focused.”
One of the rules for assassins was to never secretly watch another person train, but the Dark King didn’t seem to care.
Neither did I.
“Is there something you need from me?”
“I mentioned last time that I would visit. Do you recall?”
“…You did.”
He had said that.
I just hadn’t expected him to actually show up.
Is that man not normal?
Did he not realize how terrifying it was to hear that the Dark King himself would pay you a visit?
Then again, he likely didn’t concern himself with such trivialities. In this world, strength was everything.
He could even kill the Three Venerables.
That was the rumor.
They said the Dark King could kill even the Three Venerables if he wished.
At first, I’d thought it was just a story to enhance his reputation, but seeing him now made me reconsider.
I can barely sense his presence.
Even though he stood right in front of me, his aura was faint, almost imperceptible. Thankfully, I could still feel a trace of it, unlike last time.
I wasn’t sure what his mask did, but it allowed me to detect the barest whisper of his presence.
If he took it off, I probably wouldn’t be able to sense him at all.
“Child.”
“Yes… Senior.”
The way he addressed me was a little grating, but I didn’t argue.
From his perspective, I was indeed just a child.
He appeared to be in his thirties or forties, yet he was a master who had been active during the First Elder’s time.
His appearance was no indicator of his true age.
After a moment of silence, the Dark King spoke again.
“The more I look at you, the more I see the resemblance.”
I was used to hearing that.
“I hear that a lot.”
He was likely referring to my father. That was what most people meant.
“Hmm?”
Naturally, I assumed it was the same this time, but the Dark King tilted his head slightly at my response.
…Was I wrong?
“Are you not saying that I look like my father?”
“I am not.”
“Oh? Then who do I resemble?”
Perhaps he meant the First Elder. That would be both strange and somewhat insulting.
Just as the thought crossed my mind, the Dark King answered, as if he’d read it.
“I was referring to your grandfather.”
“My grandfather?”
He’d mentioned this last time, too.
I’d been confused then as well. What connection did the Dark King have with my grandfather to keep bringing him up?
As I was about to ask,
“If you resemble him so much… then you cannot be anything but his blood.”
“Huh?”
His words were cryptic, difficult to grasp.
“How curious.”
“I’m not sure what you’re talki—”
Flash.
“…!”
I wanted to ask what he meant, but the words died in my throat.
The Dark King vanished for a split second, reappearing right in front of me as he seized my right arm.
An ambush?
Just as I began to gather my Qi, overcoming my initial shock,
“Child.”
The Dark King abruptly pulled up my sleeve.
Dammit…!
I panicked.
On that spot was a trace of my Demonification—a patch of skin that looked like reptilian scales, about the size of a thumb.
As I scrambled for a way to explain it, he examined the mark and spoke.
“What is your relationship with the Yeon Clan?”
“…Pardon?”
His question caught me completely off guard. I had to ask him to repeat it.
It had come out of nowhere.