Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: The Giving Tree
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From that day on, Namgung San-yeong's hell(?) began.
"Have you heard of these Mingwan Bracers that can block any blade?"
"These shoes made from the fur of the White Marten spirit beast are supposedly so light and tough you can run across the surface of water."
"And the cinnabar from Huayang Cave is said to be incredibly effective."
*Dang Unhwi!*
Namgung San-yeong truly felt like ripping Unhwi to shreds dozens of times over if she could.
Whenever Unhwi wanted something, he always came straight to Namgung San-yeong.
They were mostly treasures on the level of Azure Spirit Pills or Heavenly Silkworm Robes, or at least comparable.
And since he always needed them procured in a hurry, she probably had to uproot a few support pillars from her own resources.
The dowry she'd brought when marrying into the Nine Dragons Branch Family, along with her personal savings, had all hit rock bottom.
"Ah, I've been craving these sea delicacies lately—where can I get some?"
"I want some gelatin from Tianzhu."
"My personal stable's gotten a bit dirty."
On top of that, he piled on all sorts of trivial errands, until Namgung San-yeong finally exploded.
"You!! If you're just going to keep using me like this—"
"Then don't, if you don't like it."
"—come find me. I'll gladly help with anything!"
But what good did that do? In the end, she always ended up with her tail between her legs.
Money could be replenished easily enough, but not her life or her reputation.
She'd tried in her own way to find some weakness in Unhwi, but he never showed any vulnerabilities.
Instead, he'd pretend to head to the Hidden Knight Hall, burning her from the inside out.
His silent threat—that pointless resistance would make things no fun—grew sharper with each passing day, steadily fraying her nerves.
The problem was that Unhwi wasn't the only one pressuring her.
"So, what have you found out?"
"Th-that is—"
Unable to take it anymore, she'd gone to the shrine to discuss matters related to Unhwi, only for the White Bone Sorcerer to ignore her words and hurl questions back at her instead.
Did she have any intel on Unhwi's backers? Any suspicious leads? Even the tiniest clue? Bring him anything at all—they could divine it with sorcery.
But Namgung San-yeong had no answers to any of his questions or demands.
Because she truly had nothing to report.
"You wench, you've decided you want to become Hwanggangshi after all!"
Crunch!
The White Bone Sorcerer seized her by the nape with crushing force.
In his rage-twisted face, Namgung San-yeong felt a genuine threat to her life.
*If I tell him my situation right now, I'm really dead!*
The killing intent radiating from the White Bone Sorcerer was far denser than before.
Darker, churning more violently.
It meant some event had shaken his mind in the meantime.
Instinctively, Namgung San-yeong realized the White Bone Sorcerer was as cornered as she was.
Hadn't she seen it herself before?
The urgent reports pouring in from all directions at once.
No doubt his schemes against Unhwi had backfired, putting him in peril instead.
Indeed, over the past few days, Unhwi had been ceaselessly wiping out pastures, now appearing as far as Qinghai and Xinjiang beyond Sichuan.
At this rate, the Black Bone Ghost Valley's pastures faced total annihilation.
That's why last night, an ultimatum had arrived for the White Bone Sorcerer.
—Since you've bungled this so badly, it seems I must step in myself.
The Valley Lord's emergence had been decided.
He was originally meant to support the Dark Venerable's assassination from the shadows, yet now he intended to come out personally.
Naturally, all the fallout would land squarely on the White Bone Sorcerer.
*Dang Unhwi... I have to catch that bastard somehow!!*
The White Bone Sorcerer even considered heading to the Nine Dragons Branch Family's estate himself, but that would play right into Unhwi's backers' hands, so he couldn't.
In sorcery battles, a sorcerer charging into the enemy's stronghold was tantamount to suicide.
The more preparations they made, the greater the advantage in combat—and sorcerers excelled at that.
Unless one reached the level of a Formation Master, a walking fortress and stronghold, shifting positions recklessly was an absolute taboo.
"Aren't poison and torture the Tang Clan's specialties? Use them if you must—find out! No matter what! Or at least lure them to my side!!"
With things like this, Namgung San-yeong couldn't bring herself to say, "Unhwi knows your identities."
He'd call her an idiot for getting caught and turn her into Hwanggangshi on the spot.
In the end, she could only mutter "Understood" repeatedly as she fled back to the estate like a whipped dog.
*At this rate... at this rate, I'm really going to die!!*
Namgung San-yeong barricaded herself alone in her room, pressing a pillow to her head.
She covered her ears. She didn't want to hear anything.
She closed her eyes. She didn't want to see anything.
Stepping outside felt like Unhwi would come grinning with more demands, or the White Bone Sorcerer would chase her down, throttling and threatening.
If she could, she'd just escape all this pressure.
Tap tap tap!
But there was nothing Namgung San-yeong could do right now.
She could only flail helplessly, trapped in waves of fear that gnawed at her mind moment by moment.
* * *
I cleared everyone from the training hall and sat alone in the lotus position.
*Are you already challenging the sixth stage of the Poison Dragon Heart Technique?*
*Considering you've only seriously begun martial arts training two months ago, no one in history could match the Young Leader's growth!*
"This is all thanks to our Namgung San-yeong, the Giving Tree herself."
*Indeed it is!*
*The Young Leader's grand scheme—driving enemies into corners, extorting them for power-ups—is truly the cult's finest—*
There wasn't a shred of exaggeration in my words.
Thanks to Namgung San-yeong's enthusiastic support(?), I'd progressed far faster than expected.
In that time, she'd procured four spirit medicines for me.
Azure Spirit Pill.
Fire Venom Herb.
White Spirit Fruit.
And Progressive Mold Spores.
Each one so rare they might appear once a century, and aside from the Azure Spirit Pill, they were more deadly poison than medicine.
Especially the Progressive Mold Spores, the hardest to obtain—if ingested wrong, they'd multiply like mold inside the body, devouring all vitality.
The Fire Venom Herb and White Spirit Fruit amplified those spores' traits.
They massively boosted proliferation speed and toxicity.
The reason I was pushing so hard was simple.
—To advance the Poison Dragon Heart Technique.
My inner energy would fight to suppress the multiplying spores. No, devour them.
The Azure Spirit Pill would assist that inner energy.
After scouring the Heavenly Demon Repository, this poison formula I'd deemed perfect for the Poison Dragon Heart Technique would elevate me to a new realm.
Even its creator probably never dreamed of this method.
I carefully swallowed the four medicines one by one.
My dantian exploded.
Boom boom boom! Boom!
A dizzying shock nearly made me black out, but I endured, and my inner energy finally broke through to the next stage.
Five Dragons Worshipping the Saint.
The five streams of inner energy surged upward from my lower dantian, pounding fiercely near my solar plexus.
For the first time, inner energy coiled in my middle dantian.
A tiny seed of essence, poised to grow abundantly.
Whoosh!
The middle dantian governs the five viscera and six bowels, regulating the body's vitality.
Thus, it naturally tempers emotional fluctuations for mental composure, while fostering flexibility and stamina to further enhance physical prowess.
Inner energy circulation grew far smoother. Body speed and power surged.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Boom boom boom—
I lightly unleashed the Exploding Tiger Twelve Strikes.
Air burst with each punch.
Like cannons firing.
*Ooh, congratulations on your great accomplishment!*
*Even as a basic technique, the Exploding Tiger Twelve Strikes is an ultimate art among ultimates! To wield it so swiftly and perfectly—*
My mind-body unity had advanced greatly; finally, this body felt truly mine.
Thrilled, I stepped out of the training hall.
"Do you know there's chaos outside?"
Dang Gon strolled in, two spears slung over his shoulder.
"What chaos?"
Whoosh!
I caught the spear he tossed, gripping it lightly.
The weight along the shaft felt utterly different now.
As if the spear extended my very being.
Another benefit of opening the middle dantian, it seemed.
"The explosion just now."
"Oh, that? Was it loud?"
"A little? A little? You joking? Everyone—retainers, guests—thought someone fired cannons at the estate or war had broken out. Total pandemonium."
I grinned at Dang Gon's incredulous look.
The louder the sound, the deeper the power in my strikes.
Breakthroughs to new realms were always joyous.
"So you came to test it out?"
"Of course. Guiding a disciple's martial arts is a master's duty, right?"
In an instant, Dang Gon's eyes flashed cold, and he moved with blinding speed.
Whoosh!
A pace I could never have tracked with the naked eye before.
But with my body's explosive growth, it was crystal clear now.
I slammed the spear shaft into the ground.
Clang!
Just then, Dang Gon's thrusting spear tip barely grazed my shaft.
Rumble—
I twisted my body, yanked the spear free, and thrust swiftly.
Exploding Tiger Twelve Strikes
Fierce Tiger's Charge
Wild Wind Dance
Whirling Chaos
Whirr!
The whirlwind from my toes rode the shaft, accelerating it.
The spinning tip built explosive torque, and with my advanced inner energy, thunderous roars shook the White Hall's front courtyard.
The retainers must have jumped at the cannon-like noise earlier, but this was several times louder. How much more would they startle?
Boom! Bang!
I'd never formally learned spear arts.
But the subtleties I'd absorbed from staffs, rods, whips, and other long weapons lingered in my body.
They fused into a new spear form.
The Wild Wind Dance framework, adapted with the Exploding Tiger Twelve Strikes to my style.
If I had to name it, Exploding Tiger Twelve Spears?
Dang Gon deflected my assaults with divine skill, yet steadily backpedaled bit by bit.
Meaning the power in my spear wasn't just noise—it packed real force.
—Finally, my attacks are landing on Dang Gon!
Pride swelled in my chest.
I'd earned the right to stand eye-to-eye with him.
Of course, matching a transcendent master shoulder-to-shoulder was still distant, but sharing his field of vision was a monumental leap for me.
The urge to master swordsmanship ASAP filled my head.
Boom!
Dang Gon barely blocked my thunderbolt-like Demon Wind Retreat, staggering back a couple steps.
"Huh!"
"With smoother inner energy flow, handling the Wild Wind Dance is far easier now. At this level, it's less Fierce Tiger and more Exploding Tiger, eh?"
I flashed a grin at Dang Gon's disbelieving stare.
"...Filthy gearhead."
"Hey! Gear counts as skill! You gonna blame weapons if a recruit beats you on the battlefield? Who was it always saying sparring should mimic real combat?"
"Can't even talk back, huh!!"
Truth be told, holding my own against Dang Gon owed much to Namgung San-yeong.
The Heavenly Silkworm Robe hugged my body, absorbing some attacks, while the White Marten Shoes made movement fluid.
Treasures like these proved their worth unmistakably.
Treasures forever!