Measuring Value
The cultivation of the Great Mountain Demonic Wisdom Art is split into two distinct paths. One is the path of Yoji, Demonic Wisdom, which governs spells. The other is the path of Taeak, Great Mountain, which governs martial arts. For the record, after much deliberation, I decided to practice both. It wasn't like I was terribly untalented in either, and I've always had a soft spot for hybrid, jack-of-all-trades builds.
Standing in Kang Ha-yeon's private sparring grounds, I stared at the giant of a man facing me. From his appearance alone, Yugo had clearly focused his training on the martial arts of the Taeak path. Still, just to be sure, I decided to ask.
"Mr. Yugo, what is your realm, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Middle stage of Qi Circulation."
"Thank you."
Dammit. There was absolutely no way in hell I could beat him. Still, Kang Ha-yeon couldn't possibly be crazy enough to expect me to win. This was strictly a test—a trial to measure my worth.
"Don't tremble so much, my little brother-to-be. All you have to do is your best," Kang Ha-yeon purred.
"..."
Yugo slowly warmed up and took his stance. As I began to stretch and prepare myself, a sudden thought crossed my mind. Am I letting myself get dragged around too much? Sure, I was the one in a tight spot, and I needed to crawl on my hands and knees if that's what it took to secure her backing. But that was a separate matter. I still needed to get what I deserved, didn't I?
"Sister," I called out.
"Hmm? What is it? Don't tell me you're getting cold feet..."
"You're definitely going to invest in me, right?"
"Oh?" Kang Ha-yeon snapped her fan open, pausing to gather her thoughts.
"If you show me something impressive, I can certainly provide you with some spiritual medicine. But if you prove to be disappointing, I'll have no choice but to reconsider. Precious treasures like spiritual medicine are far too valuable to waste on mediocre fools."
"Then what about the opposite scenario?"
"Speak."
This might be an investment, but it was also a mutual transaction. I needed to secure at least a baseline of stability.
"What if I turn out to be far more outstanding than you could ever imagine?"
"Then, of course, I shall promise you the highest level of support. I guarantee you will be more than satisfied."
"If I'm really that exceptional, would there be any reason for me to stick solely to your investment, Sister?"
Kang Ha-yeon's brow furrowed at my words, clearly finding them grating. "...You seem to have quite a strong faith in yourself, my little brother-to-be."
"I'm just stating facts. Honestly, besides you, Sister, aren't there two other very attractive options available to me?"
"So, what is it you want?" Kang Ha-yeon snapped her fan shut, her irritation finally showing. Her personality was just like her hair—pure fire.
"It's nothing major. If I prove to be worth the investment, just promise me one thing. In return, I won't play the field or test the waters with other factions. I'll join your side immediately."
"No playing the field, you say? I do like the sound of that. Speak your terms."
"If my potential satisfies you, provide me with enough spiritual medicine to reach the Qi Circulation realm."
Kang Ha-yeon's eyes narrowed sharply.
"I can support you with enough medicine to reach the Late stage of Core Condensation. After all, even stuffing yourself with the lowest-grade dregs can get you to the Late stage. However, when it comes to the Qi Circulation Pill required to break through to the Qi Circulation realm, I can only give you a single pill."
"That's more than enough to make me weep with gratitude. I'll handle the rest myself."
"Very well." She nodded in agreement.
"If my little brother-to-be truly possesses the skills to back up his arrogance, I will gladly grant you that investment. Do you have any other demands?"
"There are a few more, but nothing so critical that we need to agree on them beforehand. We can negotiate those after the spar."
"Fine. But since you dared to talk so big in front of me, if you disappoint me, I will slice off your manhood."
At her witty "joke," I offered a smooth, polite smile.
"Haha. You're joking, right?"
"Fufu."
"...Sister?"
Fuck. What a godforsaken family. Why did I only attract weirdos? First, a guy who adopted me just because I taught him how to give a blowjob, and now a woman threatening to castrate me just because I sounded a bit cocky.
"Yugo. Begin. We've dragged this out long enough," Kang Ha-yeon commanded.
"Yes, Milady."
Immediately after, Yugo's massive frame launched forward like a cannonball.
—BOOM!
Yugo's body hurtled forward like a colossal boulder. Simply slamming that massive frame into someone would be brutal enough, but he didn't stop there.
"Hraaaagh!"
With Yugo's roar, jagged, bizarre rocks erupted across his skin like scales. It was Stone Armor, a martial art of the Taeak path that encased the entire body in solid rock. Clad in stone, he closed the distance in an instant, aiming his shoulder—now bristling with sharp stone spikes—straight at my solar plexus. But...
"Fast for someone at the Early stage of Core Condensation," Yugo grunted.
I was already long gone from that spot. A sudden gust of wind fluttered our robes before vanishing into thin air.
Yugo stared at me with his heavy eyes, then muttered under his breath.
"Wind Walk. It may not be as violent as fire, but it is notoriously tricky to master."
"I'm just really good at focusing."
He shouldn't underestimate the focus of someone who had been subjected to the hell of college entrance exam prep since the sixth grade. I might lag behind true geniuses in every other aspect, but when it came to sheer concentration, I was a master.
"Hup!"
With a sharp grunt, the rocks encrusting Yugo's body detached and flew toward me like shrapnel. I briefly calculated the trajectory of the incoming stones, then decided to just dodge with my body. Raising my pitch-black club—forged from dark iron—I guarded the center of my head and torso.
*Thud, thwack!* I did my best to evade, but the sharp rocks inevitably grazed various parts of my body. It stung, but none of the hits were fatal. Exactly as calculated.
*CLANG!* "Ugh!" A massive boulder flew straight at my club as if targeting it deliberately, forcing me to lose my grip on it. Even though I had blocked the blow, my skull rattled and my hands went completely numb. If it felt this bad blocking with a club, a direct hit to the torso would have probably burst my internal organs like water balloons. Now that would have been great news for So-wol. But I had no regrets.
"Hyaaa!" Immediately after, Yugo's fist shot toward my face, revealing that the previous boulder had merely been a feint to keep me off balance. Only then, instead of dodging the incoming stone fist, did I unleash the spell I had been holding back.
A thin, flexible stream of wind, fluid as a serpent yet packing physical weight, shot toward Yugo.
"...Hup!" Yugo hesitated for a fraction of a second before thrusting his fist forward once more. He was relying on his sturdy stone armor and robust physique. In truth, if he hadn't suppressed his power for this spar, my attack wouldn't have even scratched him. Even with his cultivation restricted to the Core Condensation realm, Yugo's body looked more than capable of shrugging off an attack of this level. If that fluttering wind serpent had been meant for offense, my move would have been a total failure. If it had been meant for offense, that is.
*Whoosh!*
"What is this?"
The sound of something tightly binding him echoed. Yugo's advancing fist ground to a halt mere inches from my nose. To smash my face, he needed to take just one more step forward. But he couldn't. His fist stopped by a hair's breadth, leaving only the gust of its momentum to whip across the bridge of my nose. The rush of air nearly made me sneeze right then and there, but I managed to hold it in.
The momentum of the battle had shifted. Pulling my right fist back to my hip, I threw a textbook, devastating straight punch aimed directly at Yugo's face. Though my stone gauntlet was far smaller and softer than his, it was still more than enough to shatter a man's skull.
To maximize its acceleration, the wind wrapped around my forearm spiraled into a vortex. I unleashed the absolute highest-output punch my current level could muster, driving it straight into him.
—CRACK!
A satisfying sensation reverberated through my fist. I knew instinctively that the blow had landed perfectly. A thrilling jolt of impact surged up my spine, satisfying every muscle and cell in my body. It was a strike powerful enough to crush everything from the bridge of the nose to the facial muscles, flesh, and the bones beneath. Had I been on the receiving end of such a heavy blow, I would have ended up in a vegetative state at best. Mind you, my body was still that of a fragile, newly matured youth. Which meant...
"Ngh... That actually stung a bit," Yugo muttered.
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
To a seasoned warrior who had lived far longer than me and forged his body to the Qi Circulation realm, my ultimate strike was nothing more than a slightly painful flick to the forehead. Well, I was officially screwed. I had absolutely no way of producing any higher output than that.
You're asking if that was really my entire arsenal? Uh, yeah, it was. What, did you expect me to master some legendary ultimate technique or secret art in just two months? Especially while double-majoring in both martial arts and spells? The only reason I pulled off that stunt was because I had specifically focused on learning spells and martial techniques that could chain together. The combo had connected beautifully, but my raw stats were still strictly at the Early stage of Core Condensation. To make matters worse, pouring everything into that combo had left the demonic energy in my core practically depleted. I suppose that was the inevitable price of spamming overlapping spells and martial arts with mediocre mastery. My head throbbed with a dull ache, making it hard to focus on casting another spell. If only I had more demonic energy, this wouldn't even be an issue. With enough energy, I might have actually cracked his skull open.
*Crunch!*
"Impressive, boy."
With his face flushed red, Yugo trampled my wind serpent into nothingness and took a step back. He addressed me solemnly.
"The standard for this spar was based on the strength I possessed back when I was in the Core Condensation realm."
"I see."
"Had the past version of myself fought you, that strike would have knocked me unconscious or left me mortally wounded. To master both the Taeak and Yoji paths in a mere two months... a genius is indeed someone like you."
"I just got lucky."
"There is no need for false modesty."
No, seriously, I really did just get lucky. You got hit because you let your guard down like an idiot. The moment he decided to recklessly charge forward just because he held the upper hand, it was obvious how careless he was being. If Yugo were fighting a fellow Qi Circulation expert, would he have ever exposed himself to an unknown attack like that? Not a chance. The bastard was definitely hyping me up just to save face because he was embarrassed about getting hit. The more he exaggerated my talent, the less humiliating his blunder looked.
"Now then... shall we get serious?"
"Excuse me?"
With his face still flushed, Yugo began sprouting bizarre rocks all over his body. Even a blind man could see they were far sturdier, sharper, and thicker than before. Encased in stone like some video game golem, he looked like a miniature mountain. And I knew exactly what that meant. It was a technique described in the Great Mountain Demonic Wisdom Art that could only be utilized once one reached the Qi Circulation realm. This motherfucker was definitely trying to vent his frustration on me just because he got hit. Holy shit, was he actually trying to murder me?
*Thud!* Stamping a heavy foot, Yugo showered the ground with stone fragments as he took his stance. He was planning to launch himself like a cannonball again. The problem was, this time, it wouldn't be at a speed my reaction time could handle. The rocks, saturated with dense demonic energy, turned a deep purple, shimmering like amethyst. The moment his joints bent as he pressed both hands to the ground like a sprinter at the starting blocks—
"I yield! I surrender! I lost!" I screamed.
"What?" Yugo blinked.
I immediately threw my hands in the air and bolted out of the sparring ring.
"Stepping out of the ring counts as a ring-out loss, right, Sister?"
"Mmm. Indeed it does."
"Milady..." Yugo muttered, looking dejected.
"Yugo, I am well aware of your strength and fortitude. Your martial arts are as lofty and unyielding as a mountain, but you let your guard down. Simply ensure you do not make the same mistake next time."
As she spoke, my sister's eyes sparkled with intense light. She looked exactly like someone who had just won the lottery on a whim. I had seen that look before. It was the exact same gaze my friend had when he went all-in on Luna Coin, insisting it was bound to go to the moon.
"Splendid. Truly splendid. I have gained an extraordinary brother today. What a joyous day indeed."
Having officially dropped the "to-be" from "brother-to-be," my sister walked over with an elegant, poised stride and stood before me. Looking at her, I felt a surge of absolute certainty.
The Core Condensation realm. The reason this realm was known as the graveyard of budding talents was almost entirely due to the scarcity of spiritual medicine. To grow one's core, there was no alternative but to consume vast amounts of high-quality demonic energy. If one trained without spiritual medicine, their core would only stop growing when they were on their deathbed.
This was the single most frustrating aspect of being born dirt-poor in this world. It was the massive wall where countless fledglings perished. Reaching the Late stage of Core Condensation didn't require any grand, profound enlightenment.
"But you will have no need to worry about that. I promise to provide my brother with enough spiritual medicine to reach the Late stage of Core Condensation, along with a single Qi Circulation Pill."
To reach the Late stage of Core Condensation, you didn't need talent or insight—you just needed spiritual medicine, and then even more spiritual medicine.
"Well then, Sister. As I mentioned earlier, there are a few other things I'd like besides that."
"We can negotiate those from here on out."
"I knew I could count on your refreshing personality!"
I bowed my head slightly in gratitude. As I straightened up, I stole a glance at Kang Ha-yeon's body. The tight-fitting robes perfectly accentuated the curves of her legs and waist, and the faint outline of her slightly indented navel visible through the thin fabric was enough to drive me wild.
"Indeed. Now, what is your name? I realize I am only asking the most important question just now."
"I'm just grateful you asked at all. I am Gang Ha-yun."
"I see. At least you speak with far more manners than my other siblings."
As I raised my head, the bridge of my nose lightly brushed against her stomach. In that brief instant, I memorized the scent of the woman named Kang Ha-yeon.
A rich scent of roses. I've got you memorized, lady.
Though she was a tough nut to crack for now, Kang Ha-yeon had been on my target list from the very moment we met. She and I smiled warmly at each other, laughing softly. What dark designs we each harbored in our hearts, however, was something only we ourselves would ever know.
Some time passed, and I successfully broke through to the Middle stage of Core Condensation.
"Young Master? Your eyes look so scary—ah! Eek!"
There was no reason to hold back anymore. With a raging, rock-hard erection, I lunged straight at So-wol.