Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Between Confidence and Recklessness (2)
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"Huuu."
The breath he exhaled carried no more impurities. Or at least, that's how it felt.
Murong Sujing opened her eyes and looked down at her hands as if seeing them anew.
Her palms were flushed a healthy red. Far better than the ghostly pallor of her hands before.
'Power overflows. Yet it's so calm.'
As she slowly clenched her fists, she felt like she could shatter a boulder barehanded.
'An astonishing heart method.'
For the past three days, she'd thrown her duties aside and immersed herself in the Mixed Origin Heart Method.
She'd tried to work, but the heart method's allure was too strong. It felt like she needed to lay a solid foundation from the start, and before that, she wanted to soak it all in completely.
And this was the result.
'It's all turned into Mixed Origin True Qi.'
The true qi itself was remarkable, but the yang energy she'd received from her brother had fully transformed into her own.
It was as if her innate lifespan had been extended. Nine Yin Absolute Meridian? She could barely recall suffering from such a dire affliction.
'The family's secret arts... even the basic heart method is like this?'
She wasn't so much impressed as dumbfounded.
'If this is just the basic, then what the hell is the Mixed Origin One Qi Technique?!'
That was when it happened.
Thwack!
"Kuk!"
Murong Suhyang went flying from a staff strike, tumbling across the ground before scrambling back to her feet.
A red lump bulged on her forehead, and she snorted like a wild boar.
"You bastard!"
"Wide open. Totally wide open."
Murong Bi slung the wooden staff over his shoulder.
His face was the picture of boredom.
"You can lose a limb and survive with proper care, but anything above the neck is fatal no matter where it hits. Gotta watch that."
Murong Sujing couldn't help but smile.
Over the past few days, Murong Bi had changed so much he seemed like a different person.
For one, he'd put on some weight. Still lean, but now he actually looked human.
Thanks to that, his natural good looks shone through again. His sharp, chilling gaze, straight nose, and unusually clear skin for a man drew admiration from anyone who saw him.
The kind of face that would earn applause for being so handsome.
...As long as he didn't wear that wicked smirk, like now.
"I'll smash your skull!"
"Come at me!"
Panting heavily, she still kicked off the ground with explosive spring.
Even with labored breaths, her power distribution was flawless, delivering just the right force where it mattered. Training could achieve that, but with Murong Suhyang, it seemed innate.
Swish swish swish!
The wooden sword slashed fiercely through the air.
Murong Bi dodged every strike with a disinterested expression, but his eyes suddenly gleamed.
Murong Sujing murmured to herself.
'Now.'
Boom!
"Urghhh!"
Murong Suhyang soared through the air before crashing into the ground.
It looked dangerous, but she somehow relaxed her body mid-flight and landed steadily.
"Nngh."
Still, it hurt.
Rubbing her shoulder as she stood, Murong Suhyang bellowed.
"That's cheating!"
"What're you talking about?"
"Wasn't it staff techniques? Why'd you body-slam me out of nowhere?!"
"Who said I'd only use staff techniques? I mainly did, but why'd you assume?"
"Arghhh!"
Unable to contain her frustration, Murong Suhyang hurled her wooden sword away.
"Fists only!"
"If a stick doesn't work, you think fists will?"
"Fists will!"
Murong Bi shrugged and tossed his staff aside.
"Confidence like that. Crushing it bit by bit is half the fun."
"Die, you prick!"
Murong Suhyang charged again like a wild boar.
'Stay calm, Suhyang.'
Saying it aloud wouldn't help much either. Muttering it to herself wouldn't reach the youngest anyway.
Thud thud clack! Crack! Boom!
"Hah! Hah!"
The fistfight ended even faster.
Murong Bi blocked and evaded every punch from Murong Suhyang, then landed a palm strike to her side. The match was decided right there.
Worry creased Murong Sujing's face.
'That looked like a solid hit.'
Murong Bi approached Murong Suhyang.
"You okay?"
"Fine...! Urk."
"Sit cross-legged."
Her eyes bloodshot with frustration as she glared at her brother, Murong Suhyang soon plopped down cross-legged with a scowl.
"Got the incantations memorized?"
"...Who do you think I am?"
"You barely scraped by."
"What?!"
She'd only memorized the Twin Dragon Qi incantations and explanations after hearing them nearly twenty times.
Considering the sheer volume of text, that was normal.
Murong Bi's expression turned serious.
"Twin Dragon Qi is fierce and grows fast early on. But without proper mental discipline, it'll stall in the mid-stages. Always work to keep your mind steady."
"Didn't you say a bold spirit was key before?"
"It is now. But calm is needed too. Start working on it."
"Tch."
Murong Suhyang closed her eyes and began circulating her qi.
Before she'd even counted ten breaths, her face relaxed. She'd focused in an instant.
No one could match Murong Sujing's concentration like that.
'Must be because it suits her so well.'
If the Mixed Origin Heart Method was the foundation for the Mixed Origin One Qi Technique, Twin Dragon Qi was the groundwork for the Subduing Dragon Dual Origin Art.
Where Mixed Origin activated qi and specialized in elixirs, Twin Dragon enhanced physical prowess and emphasized power transmission.
Comparing superiority was pointless. Both were supreme arts, and the practitioner's enlightenment decided everything.
As two of the Murong clan's three great divine arts, they were worth a lifetime of study.
After watching her focus intently for a while, Murong Bi stepped behind her and placed a hand on her Bright Gate acupoint.
Hummm.
As Mixed Origin True Qi seeped in, Murong Suhyang's face eased even more.
A quarter-hour later, Murong Bi rose and plopped down beside Murong Sujing.
"Whew, exhausting."
"Good work."
"That kid's skill is below Jin Gwang or Gwan Hyeon, but she drains me weirdly. Her temperament, maybe?"
"She's got a fierce competitive streak."
"Twice as fierce and she could take down a tiger with her snorts."
Grumbling, Murong Bi naturally checked Murong Sujing's pulse.
She wasn't surprised. They'd done it so often the past few days.
"Oh ho."
Murong Bi didn't hide his amazement.
"Mixed Origin Heart Method at three stages already? That's a stage a day. Wasn't it two yesterday?"
"You helped."
"...Even so, that's not easy."
"It was tough. Four stages will take at least a month."
She said the terrifying words so casually.
'Do you even realize how insane that sounds?'
She already knew martial arts and medicine, so she had deep knowledge of the body. A huge advantage, sure.
But breaking through to three stages in three days was monstrous.
And saying four would take a month meant she'd already glimpsed the path ahead.
'What a freak.'
Even with her Nine Yin Absolute Meridian talent, this was overkill.
It'd get harder as realms advanced, but at this pace, she could switch to Mixed Origin One Qi Technique within a year.
'Daeho and his wife birthed a masterpiece daughter.'
Chucking, Murong Bi sat cross-legged himself.
Humm.
Concentrating faster than Murong Suhyang, he finished circulating before two quarters had passed.
Murong Sujing blinked.
"Done already?"
"Yeah."
Absorbing it into his body was the issue; his realm in Mixed Origin Heart Method was far freer. He didn't even need stages.
Train the body as needed, then straight to Three Pure Arts.
'I'd love to touch Forbidden Demon Art first, though.'
Of the two, Forbidden Demon Art suited him better.
To compare, Three Pure Arts was an ocean, Forbidden Demon Art was magma.
It matched his nature, felt more familiar for martial implementation, and excelled in destruction.
But for building a base, Three Pure Arts dominated.
Beyond traits, Three Pure Arts wasn't inferior; in pure enlightenment needed, it was vaster and more profound.
"Hungry? I'll get food."
"Nah."
"Why? Not hungry?"
"No need for the acting patriarch to move."
Murong Bi turned and shouted.
"Hey! You in the shadows!"
A shadowy figure emerged from behind a thick tree.
Still distant, but his stiff posture and awkward expression were clear.
"Bring food for me and sis."
"...Understood."
Whoosh.
The shadow slipped between shadows and vanished in an instant.
Murong Bi was baffled.
"Bragging about assassination arts? What's that? Not a mole, so why hide?"
Murong Sujing cleared her throat.
"Probably embarrassed. Awkward too."
"Fair. The guy who glared at the Ten Sword Sect Lord is now slaving for a kid not even twenty. Must sting."
Calling himself a kid so brazenly was funny.
Moments later, the shadow returned with trays.
One neat, one messy. Naturally, the neat one was Murong Sujing's.
"Good work."
"...Yes."
Murong Bi grabbed the shadow trying to leave again.
"Hot? Why keep crawling into shade?"
"Just... comfortable..."
"That ashamed of surviving?"
The shadow, face hidden by a black hat, turned away slightly. Embarrassed, it seemed.
"What are you, a maiden? Quit blushing like some porker. Creepy."
"Ahem."
"Stand guard here. Get some sun. All that lurking's twisting your personality."
"Understood."
Murong Sujing pressed Murong Bi's shoulder.
"Just let him stay comfortable."
"Sis, why?"
"You've drilled him so harshly, he finally snapped to today."
"Forgot? That bastard came to kill us."
"But he didn't, and now he's your slave."
Her elegant voice stabbed like a dagger.
No malice, maybe, but the shadow looked more depressed for sure.
Chucking, Murong Bi waved him off.
"Off today. Back to your shade."
"...Thank you."
Whoosh.
The shadow glided back behind the tree.
Soon, shoveling down gruel-like rice, Murong Bi asked.
"He doesn't ask, huh."
"About what?"
"That guy."
Murong Sujing chuckled and placed some stir-fried meat on Murong Bi's spoon.
"You must have plans."
Instead of sorry, he stuffed the meat in.
This trust made apologies burdensome.
Just show it. How he'd handle the shadow, how he'd advance the clan.
Murong Sujing would have mountains of work too.
Half a quarter passed.
One ate leisurely, the other wolfed it down.
"Hm?"
His spoon paused.
"What...?"
Murong Sujing, puzzled, turned toward the gate too, sensing something.
Moments later.
"Acting Patriarch."
Old Man Gwak approached, tense.
"Hong Sword Clan sent people."
"Not just one or two."
"Yes."
"What do they want?"
"To see the young master."
Tension crossed Murong Sujing's face.
"Probably about that letter from before."
Murong Bi slurped the last of his rice and shot up.
"I'll go."
"I'll come too."
"Need the acting patriarch for those losers? Finish eating. Waste it and you're cursed."
Slinging the staff from the training ground's edge over his shoulder, he wiped his mouth.
"Turned us down once, sends more... I hate pushy types."
But I love being the pushy one.
Plan to keep loving it.