Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon - Softness Conquers Strength..?
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To the Heavenly Demon's left was the Radiant Light Left Envoy, slaughtering enemies. To her right was the Sunset Glow Right Envoy, protecting the Heavenly Demon.
Under the Right Envoy's tutelage, Geum-gang and Hee Yeon were growing day by day.
In stark contrast to Ha Jin, the Right Envoy had a profound understanding of internal energy and techniques.
He wielded tricks that seemed like magic, tormenting Geum-gang and Hee Yeon.
"It's fine if Ha Jin lacks technique, but it never hurts to have it, right?"
"Hng..!"
Geum-gang's fighting style relied on instinct.
As such, her strikes were mostly straightforward blows.
Her current attack was a simple, efficient punch.
"It's punching arts or whatever—most are like that. But Ha Jin's body is just too damn sturdy."
The Right Envoy snatched Geum-gang's wrist, sending her body spinning in a wide arc.
She crashed to the ground and stared up at the sky, where the Right Envoy's bushy-bearded face came into view.
"How the hell do you do that?"
"You'll learn it soon enough."
"Forget it!"
Geum-gang kicked at his playfully grinning face, but her body twisted and spun as if sucked in.
Once again, she slammed face-first into the dirt.
"Eek..!"
"If you learn it, won't you get stronger?"
His smug grin was infuriating, but she couldn't deny it.
The Golden Body Art was something she had to cultivate on her own anyway.
It wasn't something the Right Envoy could help with.
All he could teach were techniques.
And he knew exactly what Geum-gang lacked.
Her striking prowess was already perfected.
The Golden Body turned a master's techniques into pure instinct.
But..
"Yah!"
"Ack!"
Thud.
"Ugh.."
The Right Envoy's grappling arts were the textbook definition of "if you don't know it, you're done for."
Unless the difference in strength was overwhelming, it wasn't something instinct alone could handle.
"One more time."
"Ack!"
No matter how many times she fell, the Golden Body kept the pain at bay.
It just soured her mood.
"Yah."
"Uwaaack!"
"Hah!"
"Ack!"
After repeated takedowns, the dirt-covered Geum-gang was approached by the Right Envoy.
"Geum-gang, think you can do it now?"
"Yeah. I got the feel."
"Hm? Already?"
Geum-gang, still lying down, swiftly grabbed his leg and yanked.
She aimed to topple him using the rotational principle he had emphasized so much.
Finally!
"Whoa there."
As his body tilted, the Right Envoy twisted in a bizarre fashion to regain his balance.
Seizing that split-second opening, Geum-gang feinted a few strikes and grabbed his nape to steal his equilibrium.
Of course, it was Geum-gang who ended up falling again.
"Ack!"
"You're still a ways off."
Though he said that, Geum-gang had shown astonishing aptitude that even surprised the Right Envoy.
Whether due to the Golden Body Art or not, she had perfectly grasped the principles of center of gravity and balance.
She wielded a sensation that some spent lifetimes failing to comprehend as naturally as opening and closing her fist.
'What a little monster. What the hell did Ha Jin pick up?'
"Ughhh..."
Oblivious to his thoughts, Geum-gang lay sprawled, wallowing in frustration.
'If I raise her right... she could really...'
A glint began to spark in the beggar's eyes.
At night, Geum-gang, Hee Yeon, and the Right Envoy trained together.
Originally, Geum-gang focused on physical training, while Hee Yeon and the Right Envoy built internal energy.
But...
"Geum-gang, since when do you have internal energy?"
For some reason, Geum-gang possessed internal energy.
It wasn't a vast amount, but a remarkably pure energy flowed within her.
"No dantian either. This energy's just cycling through her meridians nonstop."
After thoroughly examining Geum-gang's body, the Right Envoy stared at her in wonder.
"It started after I ate some inner pill I found at their house and got a stomachache."
"You ate something you found!?"
Since arriving at the Heavenly Seed Pavilion, Geum-gang had started speaking casually to Hee Yeon.
There was no particular reason.
She just felt comfortable.
Hee Yeon still couldn't bring herself to do the same, but Geum-gang acted naturally.
Besides, speaking formally to a girl her age felt off.
'My mental age is practically thirty!'
As the Right Envoy checked her pulse, he kept tilting his head in confusion.
"Internal energy doesn't just appear from eating some elixir or whatever. Is Ha Jin's disciple really yours?"
To the Right Envoy, who cultivated breathing arts, the internal energy flowing through Geum-gang's meridians was crystal clear.
"No dantian either. Amazing."
Having spent over a decade by Ha Jin's side, the internal energy coursing through the Golden Body felt all the more bizarre to him.
"Teach me how to use this too. I have no clue."
"Hm?"
She knew how to circulate it through her body.
But how to infuse it into her martial arts? Geum-gang, a complete novice in internal arts, couldn't grasp it.
[Heavenly Movement Formula - Modified]
The first time the Right Envoy saw the Heavenly Movement Formula, he was utterly shocked.
"You practiced this alone? You... "
It was a miracle she hadn't burst her meridians and died.
Even the Right Envoy would end up crippled or worse reciting Geum-gang's altered Heavenly Movement Formula with his bare body.
"This is insane..."
A single misstep and the body exploded.
Even succeeding imposed excessive strain.
Its power was guaranteed, but each circulation risked life itself—a profoundly dangerous technique.
It shared similarities with the Golden Body Art's principle: endure, or shatter.
"Well, if you can endure it... it could work."
"You know my body's tough. Third stage. I'll reach the third stage by next year."
At the third stage of Golden Body Art, she could wield bare-body force equal to a peak martial artist channeling internal energy.
With sharp wits, she could even contend with transcendent masters.
Unthinkable for her age, yet watching her instilled belief that she could pull it off.
Hee Yeon and the Right Envoy both thought so.
There was a clear reason for Geum-gang's rapid progress in cultivating the Golden Body.
She had a rough grasp of the human body's components.
Cells, DNA, hormones—knowledge beyond crude dissection.
Words alien to the martial world, yet integral to the body.
After entering the first stage of Golden Body Art, Geum-gang strove to perceive them fully.
If she could contemplate her internals and sculpt every cell perfectly...
Control every hormone?
True superhuman.
The Golden Body would harden in an instant.
Witnessing Geum-gang's iron will, the Right Envoy finally threw up his hands.
"Fine. Nights for internal training. Dawn for external. Days for forms. Can you handle it, Hee Yeon?"
"Y-Yes!"
Hee Yeon was advancing steeply too.
Recent dialogues with the Right Envoy had granted her enlightenment, placing her on the cusp of peak mastery.
Thrust into her role much like Geum-gang, she yearned to prove herself worthy everywhere.
Especially to Geum-gang.
'I won't fall behind.'
With resolute hearts, Hee Yeon and Geum-gang immersed in training.
The nights at the Heavenly Seed Pavilion were profoundly still.
Just four souls in the vast estate.
Nights were bound to be quieter.
"Mm.."
In the silent compound, even small sounds echoed loud.
Geum-gang opened her eyes at the rustling.
"Rats are back."
Since the Right Envoy's arrival, threats had come a few times.
He handled most, but their persistence suggested...
'Guess it's my turn. Fine.'
Sometimes he tasked Geum-gang or Hee Yeon under the guise of training.
"Let's see."
Three sets of footsteps.
No distinctive scent—seasoned assassins, clearly.
But Geum-gang wasn't one to miss absent odors.
"Can't use something like great invisibility, huh?"
The first giveaway humans can't hide: body heat.
An odd warmth from the wall.
Geum-gang thrust her hand, shattering the wall.
Sure enough, she grabbed a round head and slammed it down.
"Gahk..!"
Before he could react, the black-clad man's neck snapped on impact.
"Man, such classic outfits."
"Don't kill!"
Normally, the other two would flee.
Charging despite a comrade felled in seconds meant confidence in their skills.
"Hm."
As the Right Envoy said, the assassins avoided vital points.
They targeted only spots for non-lethal wounds: ankles, thighs, wrists.
With mollusk-like flexibility, her attacks barely landed.
Punches sank into softness; palm strikes bent the body.
"Annoying."
The assassin was better than expected.
Internal energy lagged, but dagger thrusts rivaled Hee Yeon's speed.
Geum-gang couldn't dodge all, taking a hit to her shoulder blade.
Scraaape.
"Scraaape?"
Of course, no blade pierced her now.
Scraaape.
A sound no human body should make.
Face masked, but she could imagine the assassin's shock.
'This feels right.'
The Right Envoy said softness beats strength.
Ha Jin taught that overwhelming strength rends softness.
Geum-gang seized the assassin's wrist and shoulder.
Crrruuunch.
With crushing grip, she tore his left arm free.
"Argh.. aaack!"
Ignoring the writhing man, she scanned the estate. Sure enough, one fled.
"Nope. Not happening."
Enter someone's home and try to leave?
Geum-gang was stronger than expected—even beyond the assassins' assumptions.
'Beyond projections. Peak realm at that age..! No lightness skill, they said. Retreat first!'
Indeed. Geum-gang couldn't use lightness skill.
Didn't know how to wield internal energy.
But she could power her thighs.
Use calf springiness.
Control ankle flexibility.
"Hup!"
With terrifying leg strength, she caught the assassin instantly.
"You little..!"
The last black-clad was the leader, highly skilled.
Daggers in both hands, he pressed Geum-gang with blinding speed.
True to his prowess, he knew the gap.
'Distract briefly and flee!'
As he hurled hidden weapons and reached for smoke bombs, his body twisted oddly.
"Hm. This works better."
Craaack.
The instant Geum-gang gripped his wrist, she applied the Right Envoy's rotational art, shattering the assassin's body.
Golden Body Fighting Method.
Second form: Spiral Vortex.
Borrowing the nautilus shell's spiral beauty to hurl foes.
Originally the Right Envoy's, sensing force flow to toss stronger opponents—a simple grapple.
But Golden Body's senses were acutely sensitive, perceiving beyond force to the body's grain.
Stable grain meant sturdy body; unstable meant frail.
If she could twist that grain utterly as technique?
Shatter the body without toppling the center.
Thus, the Right Envoy's mild art evolved into a domineering form pulverizing flesh.
Proving it, the assassin's corpse lay twisted in a vortex pattern.
"Left one alive. Should be fine."
Growing unwittingly accustomed to killing, Geum-gang shook blood from her hands and returned to the pavilion.
Whoever sent them, the girl was growing stronger, one experience at a time.