Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Give It Back
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"The Five Greats refer to earth, water, fire, wind, and void. That's the concept encompassing all five."
Doeuksini said this as he extended his fingers one by one.
Whoosh!
A blue flame ignited first, followed by a jet of water, then a cloud of dust, which the wind promptly scattered.
The long-awaited void was silent.
"It disappeared?"
"Yes. It sends the manifested yokai arts elsewhere."
As he spoke, he pointed somewhere off to the side.
When Sin Bihyeong turned his gaze that way, he saw four distinct marks clearly etched into the ground.
"Exorcists call their affinities the Five Elements. In opposition, the affinities yokai possess are the Five Greats."
Sin Bihyeong listened and recalled something.
'That Imi-ho from before definitely used sorcery with a similar vibe.'
Her tail turned to flame and grew heavy like a mountain,
while blades of water and wind lashed at my skin simultaneously.
'So that was the Five Greats.'
He'd searched online but found nothing specific, so he'd been clueless until now.
Finally, he'd grasped the concept.
"So how do you handle the horn angle?"
"The horn angle starts by creating an empty space within the body."
"Space?"
"Yes. For example."
Doeuksini said this, raised his sharp claw, and thrust it straight into his own abdomen.
Stab!
The blade sank in up to his palm. Blood trickled down his forearm.
Yet Doeuksini pulled his arm free with a perfectly composed expression, utterly unfazed. Truly a yokai.
"Can you see my belly?"
His organs were severed, a tunnel punched clean through to his back. It was gruesome.
"It's a sensation like drilling a hole through your body."
Ah... In that case, maybe he should've taken the horn angle as a wager reward after all?
The thought flashed through his mind for an instant, but he quickly shook his head.
'Without the void as a primary affinity, the horn angle would be useless anyway.'
Sin Bihyeong forced down his disgust at the grotesquery and stared fixedly at Doeuksini's gut.
Doeuksini cackled.
"Well, that's just how I explain it, but it doesn't actually punch a hole in your body. It's merely implanting the void into yourself with that kind of feel."
"...Then why go to the trouble of punching a hole in your belly?"
"Isn't it faster to understand by seeing it directly and picturing it in your mind than by words alone?"
Fair enough.
He couldn't argue with that.
'Thanks to that explanation, I'm starting to get a feel for it.'
Was it worthy of being called a primary affinity?
Or should he praise Doeuksini's exceptional teaching?
Sin Bihyeong sensed an emptiness taking root within his own body.
'It's not an actual hole. And it's not like the dantian either.'
It was simply energy concentrating there, molding the void's property.
Nothing more than a clump.
However.
'A sense? It's gradually... slipping out of the body, not staying inside.'
The empty space reached out as if trying to fill itself, absorbing all information it touched from the surroundings before returning.
As Sin Bihyeong felt this, an idea sparked.
'What if I mix in the Root here?'
Doeuksini's original technique fused with a goblin's basics.
What if he blended those two?
'That could make for... something pretty fun.'
Sin Bihyeong tested it immediately.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
[Skill acquired: 'Void Cluster,' a sub-skill of 'Demon Perception Step.'] [The 'Root' fuses into the 'Void Cluster' skill.] [Potential to evolve into a superior skill obtained.]
The system message praised its evolutionary potential.
'Superior skill. Does that mean the Demon Perception Step? Or something entirely new?'
Either way, it was good for him.
Sin Bihyeong grinned delightedly, and Doeuksini couldn't hide his astonishment.
"Heh. You mixed in the Root? A truly astonishing idea."
"It felt similar to the outward extension."
"Correct. The Demon Perception Step is fundamentally a sensory organ unlike the five senses or qi sense."
As an analogy, it was like 'stealing' information from an opponent you intended to fight.
"If mastered, you'll read their moves before they even become visible. And how to counter them, too."
It was an absurdly cheat-like skill beyond imagination, making Sin Bihyeong salivate,
but regrettably, that was a distant future prospect.
He hadn't even entered the Demon Perception Step basics yet, barely stepping into its sub-skill, Void Cluster.
'Still, it'll grow steadily.'
Unlike other skills, sensory ones leveled up quickly.
Senses were used even in daily life, after all.
"How do you use the rest of the Five Greats? Similar to the Five Elements?"
"Yes. It's like molding yokai power to manifest other energies."
That sounded exactly like sorcery.
"Yup."
Sin Bihyeong recalled the sensation of casting sorcery and unleashed the Five Greats yokai arts.
Wind blew, flames lingered.
Amid them, a grounded earth sensation and the fluid motion of water currents swirled within his body.
Then, an idea tickled his mind.
'Lots of similarities to the Five Elements. Water, earth, fire.'
So, could he mix these
into Five Elements sorcery?
"Doeuk."
"...Yes? Were you calling me?"
"Doeuksini is a bit of a mouthful."
"Understood... But why did you call?"
"Do you know the basic sorceries of the Five Greats?"
Luckily, Doeuk knew them well.
After a quick lesson, the Five Greats sorceries naturally appeared in his system list.
Sin Bihyeong immediately fused the Five Greats' fire with the Five Elements' fire.
Sizzle...!!
Though the same flames, steam rose incessantly from his grip, sounding like water hitting a hot frying pan.
'Yin and yang clashing.'
But no need to worry.
His Yin-Yang Incarnation body held infinite potential to contain both energies.
'Gather.'
As if commanding the energy, he glared fiercely at the sorcery.
In his hand, a shimmering purple flame flickered—not blue, not red.
"What is...?"
Doeuk stared wide-eyed, clueless himself.
"...Incredible. Yin and yang coexisting. It's like gazing upon yokai who forged myths."
Forged myths?
Who was he buttering up?
'I'm just a fledgling half-demon.'
Merely Hierarchy Rank 2.
Even generously factoring in physical prowess, barely scraping Rank 3.
That was Sin Bihyeong's self-assessment.
"Anyway, that's enough of this. Time for me to grab something from the treasure vault and..."
As Sin Bihyeong dispersed the purple flame and prepared to head back to the dorm,
Ding!
The familiar chime rang out.
But now, like Pavlov's dog, his heart pounded reflexively at the sound.
The moment he focused,
an utterly unexpected window appeared before his eyes.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
[Derived Story, 'Researcher' unlock conditions partially met.] Basic Five Elements sorceries mastered (1/5)
"...Huh?"
He'd unwittingly dipped into a hidden piece?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Derived Story, 'Researcher.'
This hidden piece unlocks after acquiring and mastering only the 'Rank 1' sorceries classified as basic.
'When I learned sorceries, the starting proficiency was different.'
Something about grasping their essence.
'Thanks to that, proficiency kept stacking even after hitting 100.'
Each one culminated in power surpassing same-rank hierarchies.
Forced plus-grade creation?
'Pairing that with Path to the Apex will synergize nicely.'
Thus, a must-have hidden piece.
Sin Bihyeong spread the purple flame into the air again and delved into it.
'The Five Greats sorcery stimulated the Five Elements one.'
Conveniently, this time it was the fire property.
Allowing him to master one basic sorcery.
'Two overlaps ahead.'
Earth and water.
'Though soil can't exactly be classified as earth...'
There would be overlaps.
Sin Bihyeong concurrently operated earth sorcery and soil sorcery to find their intersection,
and did the same for water-related sorceries.
The result.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
[Conditions met.] Basic Five Elements sorceries mastered (3/5)
Adding two more propelled him past halfway to the hidden piece.
'Left are wood and metal sorceries.'
Regrettably, yokai Five Greats had no overlaps there.
Sin Bihyeong smacked his lips and turned back.
'Regular classes will start with basics anyway.'
There'd be ways to rack up proficiency quickly then.
He'd aim for that.
'Now, what to take from here...'
Sin Bihyeong looked at Doeuk.
'Current power level around mid-hierarchy. That'll do.'
Sin Bihyeong led Doeuk to the treasure vault's deepest section.
"Boss. What's the business here?"
"Thinking of borrowing some of your strength."
Sin Bihyeong smiled and surveyed the area.
The energy grew denser the further in.
It was the spirit pill zone.
Sin Bihyeong scanned them quietly, fixed his gaze on one spot, then called Doeuk.
"See that?"
"Yes. A spirit pill with exceptional compressed energy. But... doesn't seem absorbable into the body."
"Right. It's the 'body' type."
Sin Bihyeong's lips twitched.
'Great Return Pill.'
The one that reeked of veteran scamming before.
Time for him to try one.
"Doeuk. Fetch that for me."
Doeuk stared at it blankly, then nodded.
"Yes. Back shortly."
True to his word, Doeuk breezed past the acquisition qualifications and returned with the wooden box.
"Here."
The box containing the Great Return Pill rested politely on his outstretched hands.
Sin Bihyeong's heart fluttered pleasantly.
'Constitutions stack multiplicatively.'
No, more precisely, higher-grade ones 'devoured' lower ones?
'Heavenly Martial Body incorporating into Yin-Yang Incarnation should make it even better.'
Thus, his choice from the vault: the Great Return Pill.
He opened the box immediately, savored the bitter herbal scent,
and swallowed it whole.
Gulp.
As it went down, the compressed energy unpacked, naturally caressing his meridians, muscles, and bones.
Crunch!
Rebirth began.
Like before.
When he'd gained Yin-Yang Incarnation, his dantian opened, yokai and Taoist powers flowing out to circulate with the pill's energy.
They soon soothed his muscles and bones.
Simultaneously, as if the dantian were part of the body, energy flowed there too, stimulating it.
Ding!
As the process completed,
a message rang.
⚔ STATUS ⚔
['Joy of Gluttony' applied.] [Constitution 'Yin-Yang Incarnation' fully devours the Great Return Pill's energy.] [Digesting...] [Awakens ability fitting the constitution.] [Congratulations! Special trait 'Heavenly Temporal Realm' added to 'Yin-Yang Incarnation'!]
But the name felt unfamiliar.
'...Huh? Not Heavenly Martial Body?'
What the heck. Give back my Heavenly Martial Body.
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