Chapter 139
Chapter 139
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: The Warrior Learns About the East
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There was a brief commotion for a moment.
But Changwol emerged after changing into her new clothes.
"Ughhh..."
"Ooh~ It suits you perfectly!"
"H-Huh, but Master... my thighs and arms..."
"I told you it's fine~"
"Narin! Nobody here cares, so don't worry about it."
She already looked pale due to her white hair.
But now, with her face and even her skin flushed red, the contrast was striking.
Perhaps because Damfir, who was the same gender, acted completely unfazed?
Even though her body trembled, she managed to stand before me.
"S-Still, I have to admit... it's incredibly comfortable..."
"You'll feel it even more during training. Anyway, Chief, does this mean Narin is starting her training now?"
"That's right!"
"Ooooooh!!"
Huh...?
Why was Damfir getting so excited?
The first supreme training involved a greasy pole dripping with oil... Huh?
D-Damfir! Was this what you were aiming for?!
You want to see Changwol covered head to toe in slippery oil!!!
And then, under the pretense of helping her wash up, you'd squeeze into the same shower stall!!!
Good lord, a woman entering the same shower as a lesbian... It was heartbreaking that I had no way to stop it.
Had the time finally come to borrow a cat's paw?!
"Little kitty."
"Balak! Why'd you call me?"
"Changwol's going to get covered in oil later. Can you help her wash up?"
"Ah, is that what you meant? Of course I'll help!"
When I asked her gender before, she said she was female.
So the little kitty would join her in the shower stall too.
Damfir wouldn't dare pull anything weird with the kid watching.
Alright, now I've borrowed the cat's paw as well.
I passed on the method for the first supreme training to Changwol.
"S-So, you're saying I have to climb this?"
"Seeing it in action will be better than words. Over to the expert assistant."
"Eek! Kayrel, front and center!"
"Commence the first supreme training!"
"Begin!!"
Soon, Damfir concentrated her odd energy at one point, stuck to the pole, and began climbing up.
"What is that?!"
"Changwol, do you get the principle?"
"...Concentrate all qi at one spot while continuously circulating it, right?"
"That's not the end. Expert assistant, proceed to stage two."
"Proceeding!"
Woooong!
Damfir activated the gravity enhancement belt.
Already adapted to this training, she grimaced slightly but kept climbing upward.
"Master, what does that belt do? I only know something's happening to her..."
"It amps up gravity when activated. In short, climbing becomes dozens of times harder."
"What?!"
"And that's not the end!! Expert assistant, stage three!!"
"Proceeding!!"
Changwol gaped at Damfir crawling upside down the pole like a bug.
But then Damfir's top flipped up.
And the Great Eucal girl fainted.
********
Damfir came down after nailing the upside-down full climb.
But the Great Eucal girl let out a wail.
"M-Master!! If you're a woman, treasure your body more! Especially with a man like Master here—!!!"
"Whoa... Chief, her reaction feels so fresh. Am I weird for thinking that?"
"No, it's peak political correctness right now, so it's totally normal."
"P-Poli... what? Master, Narin. What does that even mean?"
Oops, Changwol wasn't familiar with loanwords.
Of course, the little kitty, still a kid, looked clueless too.
I trusted Changwol would get as nonchalant as Damfir once she adapted here.
Soon after Changwol calmed down, she dove right into the first supreme training.
Slap! Slap!
"Narin's doing better than me on her first try?"
"She could handle sword qi from the start, so she's applying the odd energy right where it counts. But... what's this?"
"Huh? She stopped in the middle."
Suddenly, Changwol froze midway up the pole.
Wondering what was up, I observed her energy flow...
Th-the odd energy was amplifying inside her body?!
No way, was she having a breakthrough right now!!
Then this wasn't the time.
Bam!!
I yanked her off the pole and set her down on the ground.
"Chief! What the—"
"Shh! Changwol, circulate your qi right now."
......"Yes."
With a dazed look, she sat cross-legged and warned Damfir and the little kitty not to disturb her under any circumstances.
As everyone held their breath in silence.
A cluster of odd energy formed above Changwol's white hair, condensing like a single seed.
The seed sank into the soil of her mind, taking root.
In an instant, three beautiful flower buds bloomed over the snowy field of her white hair.
"B-Balak, what is that...?"
"Three Flowers Gather at the Crown."
"Three Flowers... what?"
Sigh... Damfir and the little kitty had zero knowledge of martial arts.
No point going deep—they wouldn't get it—so I kept it super simple.
"When circulating qi in meditation, if the practitioner's essence, qi, and spirit unite, it manifests as odd energy like that flower above the upper dantian—the crown."
"Chief, so those flowers..."
"Exactly as you're thinking: the three buds represent mind, mana, and body. Now Changwol has reached perfect peak realm."
In new wuxia, Three Flowers usually shows at flower realm.
But since Changwol hailed from ancient wuxia, it appeared at peak.
After finishing her meditation, Changwol smiled faintly and thanked me.
"Thank you, Master. I gained a huge insight thanks to you."
"It's not my merit—it's yours. Keep pushing forward. But... go wash up first."
"Pardon?"
She heard me and noticed the hook floating above her head? No—a slime hook? Wait.
But the little kitty pinched her nose and revealed the reason.
"Nya-rin!!! You stiiink so baaad nya!!"
"Wh-What?!"
"Ugh... Chief, what is that smell? And Narin's clothes have black stains...?"
"Th-That... Hiiing..."
Her realm breakthrough had purged impurities from her body.
Hurt by the little kitty and Damfir's blunt words, she holed up in the shower for ages.
************
A little later.
How vigorously had she scrubbed?
Changwol emerged in fresh training clothes, her whole body flushed bright red.
Still anxious, she even had the little kitty inspect her.
"Um... Pepira, do I still smell awful?"
"A little, nya."
"N-No way! Then again—!!"
"Scrubbing all day wouldn't make that smell vanish—that'd be weirder. Just bear it."
"Sorry, Master!"
Sigh, Changwol was too swayed by others' opinions.
Despite all that mental training...
Should I redo it?
"Eek?!"
"Narin, what's wrong?"
"N-Nothing at allll!"
Tch, her perception and instincts had skyrocketed, so I'd let it slide.
Afterward, confirming her perfect peak realm, she aced the first supreme training effortlessly.
But the little kitty seemed lost in deep thought, like she had something on her mind.
What could she be pondering?
Then, from the little kitty's pure heart came a line that never should have.
"If there's qi circulation meditation, are there qi midday meal or qi stone meal too, nya?"
""Gahk?!""
What kind of madness was this—ordering carbonara from a female bellhop!
I'd consumed plenty of MZ fusion wuxia, so my damage was light.
But Changwol took massive mental trauma.
"Pepira! Qi circulation meditatio—!"
Suddenly, Changwol started rambling nonstop, spilling everything about the East.
And just like that, it turned into an East explainer session.
The East's situation closely mirrored the wuxia I knew.
"So, there's the Five Great Families—major sects with heavy worldly ties—and the Nine Great Sects Alliance, a coalition of ten prestigious factions."
"Hmm... But in a centralized empire, it's weird that local martial forces dominate."
"That was unavoidable because of the 'Ghost Gates.'"
"Ghost Gates?"
"Yeah—"
Ah, so the East's 'Ghost Gate' meant dimensional rifts.
"Since you never know when they'll open, stationing armies constantly is inefficient, so they left it to local martial powers."
"So the East's local clans are basically handling the hero work we do here."
A murim born from dimensional rifts...
I wanted to visit someday.
But when I asked Karian about Eastern magic before, didn't he mention things like the Four Divine Beasts?
And what do the East's gods do when Ghost Gates open?
"In ancient times, the heavenly and mortal realms were close, so gods appeared often in the mortal world. But for some reason, the worlds drifted apart. Strong beings vanished, except immortals and weak yokai. Now, when Ghost Gates open, they notify shamans from the heavens, I hear."
"Sounds like our gods. But what's a Four Divine Beast in the East?"
"You can think of them as powerful spirit beasts that appeared later."
"Oho, so the East must be super peaceful."
"Not quite..."
Narin sighed deeply and explained why she'd come West.
"A demonic war recently broke out in murim over a cult? Don't tell me it's the Heavenly Demon God Cult?"
"How'd you know, Master? They use alien powers from Ghost Gates to revive their god, the Heavenly Demon."
"I see..."
Changwol, unaffiliated, got caught between the righteous factions led by the Five Great Families and Nine Great Sects Alliance, and the Heavenly Demon God Cult's demonic forces. Exhausted, she just crossed West.
Then got dungeon-napped like me.
But one odd fact stood out.
"For the past ten years, a phrase about entering a hidden realm kept following me."
"Huh? It happened in the East too?"
"No way, you too, Narin?"
"Our tribe too, nya!"
"P-Pepira too?!"
Thinking about it, the dungeon bosses in the East must be in the same boat as us.
Anyway, enough East talk!
Clap!!
"Now that everyone's rested, let's start training."
"Aww, I wanted more East stories, nya."
"Pepira, we can hear them later. Right, Narin?"
"I'll tell you anytime you want."
And so we all got up.