Junggyeongjin (2)
"How did you find out that I possess the Liuji Tiangang Divine Art?"
Na Chwi-ryang rounded on Cheon Woo-jin, fury written across his scaled face. The Liuji Tiangang Divine Art had been his greatest secret, and now this newcomer knew of it.
"That art was forgotten by the world ages ago. How in the hells could you possibly—"
"The Liuji Tiangang Divine Art is the exclusive technique of the Six Extremes Heaven-Cleaving Gate, a sect that vanished long ago."
Cheon Woo-jin answered in a voice as calm as still water. "The Six Extremes Aperture that survives in the world today is nothing but a cheapened imitation of it."
"Damn it all. You really do know your stuff."
Long ago, there had been a martial artist who pushed his techniques to the very limit. Having achieved the Three Flowers Gathered at the Crown and the Five Qi Returned to the Origin, he opened his upper dantian, acquired a Five Elements Spiritual Root, and developed a technique that distilled his every insight into the martial path — a feat that shook the entire cultivation world. The Six Extremes Heaven-Cleaving Gate he had founded was destroyed centuries ago, and its exclusive art, the Liuji Tiangang Divine Art, was believed lost with it. In truth, it had been passed down in secret, and at this point in time, Na Chwi-ryang was its sole inheritor.
"Let me make one thing clear — I have no desire to learn the whole of the Liuji Tiangang Divine Art. I'm not a close-combat specialist like you."
"Then why bother learning it at all? If all you want is faster reaction time, the Six Extremes Aperture alone should be plenty."
"I want to learn how to wield Gangqi."
Gangqi. Ordinarily, it was a technique reserved for martial artists of the Transformed Realm and above — one compresses an enormous quantity of qi to its utmost limit, maximizing both its density and destructive power. Compress sword qi and it becomes Sword Gang; compress protective qi and it becomes Defensive Gangqi. The Liuji Tiangang Divine Art was a body-tempering art built upon precisely this principle.
"I'm not planning to brawl with Gangqi. I simply want to reinforce the strength of my own body."
"…!"
At those words, Na Chwi-ryang's eyes went wide. "You mean to use it when you cast techniques too great for your body to endure? Reinforcing your whole frame with Gangqi to power through them?"
Typical Na Chwi-ryang. He had grasped in an instant exactly why Cheon Woo-jin wanted a body-tempering art.
Time and again, Cheon Woo-jin had unleashed techniques far beyond his current realm, and every such occasion had drained vast quantities of spiritual power — and, quite apart from that, subjected his flesh to crushing strain. Reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm had strengthened the foundation of his body, and the burden was gradually lessening, but it was still far from enough.
But what if, from here, he mastered Gangqi and artificially raised his body's resilience? He would be able to hurl powerful techniques about freely, without ever fearing that his own flesh would tear itself apart.
Granted, doing so would consume spiritual power on both the Gangqi and spellcasting fronts, draining his spirit qi in moments. But that was a concern the current Cheon Woo-jin did not share.
When channeling Gangqi, he could simply draw on the demonic qi pooled in his dantian instead.
The Liuji Tiangang Divine Art is a body-tempering art created by a martial artist… which makes it perfect for forging Gangqi out of dantian energy.
Unleash Gangqi from his dantian's demonic qi to fortify his body, then draw spirit qi up through his spirit meridians to cast his spells. With that arrangement, he would be able to deploy techniques of overwhelming power, far beyond his limits.
"You absolute monster… I already thought your power was absurd for the Foundation Establishment Realm, but this."
Na Chwi-ryang shook his head in sheer disbelief. "You can't even be satisfied with where you are now? Just how much stronger do you intend to get?"
"A foolish question, Na Chwi-ryang."
Cheon Woo-jin's reply was ice-cold. "Is there a single cultivator alive who wishes to stagnate, content with what they already have?"
"Kek. Can't argue with that."
Na Chwi-ryang nodded. He, too, was a man who would seize any means, fair or foul, to grow stronger.
"Still, I'm not entirely convinced. What I want to know is where the hell you even heard about the Liuji Tiangang Divine Art."
As he spoke, Na Chwi-ryang shot a sidelong glance at Seo Seol-ryeong. He clearly suspected she had ferreted the information out through her web of connections across the region.
"…."
Despite his piercing glare, Seo Seol-ryeong maintained her composure, her expression utterly unchanged. In truth, she genuinely knew nothing, so interrogating her would have been pointless — this was, after all, information Cheon Woo-jin had uncovered through his knowledge of the game.
In the game, the Liuji Tiangang Divine Art was Na Chwi-ryang's trump card.
Within the game, Na Chwi-ryang had been nothing more than an ordinary NPC with no events attached to him, yet whenever he unleashed that art, he displayed such considerable combat power that he had stuck in memory. Defeating him gave a low-probability chance of obtaining the Liuji Tiangang Divine Art, and among the body-tempering arts available at that stage, it boasted the strongest performance of them all.
"Honestly, I'd rather not hand it over. It took me great pains to acquire it myself."
Na Chwi-ryang crossed his arms. "I'd much rather settle this another way. Is there truly nothing else that would do? I could go as high as two hundred thousand spirit stones."
"Bargaining upward in such miserly increments does nothing to tempt me."
From one hundred thousand to one hundred fifty thousand, from one hundred fifty to two hundred thousand. The offer had doubled, sure — but measured against Cheon Woo-jin's current worth, it was still lacking.
"What I want is the Liuji Tiangang Divine Art. That hasn't changed."
"Hey, don't be stubborn about this. Take something else."
"I've stated what I want. That much is settled."
Cheon Woo-jin brushed past Na Chwi-ryang entirely and turned his gaze to Seo Seol-ryeong. "The finer details can be negotiated with Seo Seol-ryeong here."
"What did you just say?"
"Seo Seol-ryeong, I leave it to you."
At those words, Seo Seol-ryeong let out a quiet sigh. "You decide things on a whim, then hand them off on a whim as well."
"Any objections?"
"None. If that is what you've decided, then so be it."
Though she had initially been cool toward the whole affair, she raised no protest against what Cheon Woo-jin had settled. Whatever quibbles might be raised, the person who respected his will most faithfully was, in the end, Seo Seol-ryeong herself.
"Then, cultivator, let us talk things through and settle the terms together."
"Hey, wait, what is this—"
He had stated his terms. The rest of the negotiation could safely be left to her.
With that thought, Cheon Woo-jin rose from his seat. While Seo Seol-ryeong deployed her practiced silver tongue to coax and pressure Na Chwi-ryang, he intended to clear away the table Na Chwi-ryang had smashed to splinters earlier.
"Tch. Damn it all."
Na Chwi-ryang stormed out of the shop spitting curses. "No matter how I turn it over, this deal bleeds me dry. How did it even come to this?"
"If you've already pressed your seal to the contract, then simply accept it. You hold grudges over nothing."
At Cheon Woo-jin's flat remark as he followed him out, Na Chwi-ryang's face twisted into a scowl of magnificent proportions. "Damn that woman and her silver tongue. She talked circles around me."
In the end, Na Chwi-ryang had agreed to provide the Liuji Tiangang Divine Art. The terms: he would lend out the art's manual for a fixed period, and personally teach Cheon Woo-jin its fundamentals. He had flatly refused to simply hand the manual over — but truthfully, the arrangement suited Cheon Woo-jin quite well.
He was no close-combat specialist like Na Chwi-ryang, and he had no intention of clinging to the manual for years on end, so a brief loan was more than sufficient.
I've never seriously trained a body-tempering art before. If a heavyweight like Na Chwi-ryang teaches me from the ground up, it'll be an enormous help.
For his part, Na Chwi-ryang hadn't gotten a terrible deal either. He had to pass on an art he treasured to an outsider, yes — but it cost him nothing materially.
Seo Seol-ryeong had pressed precisely that point throughout the negotiation, and in the end she extracted a result Cheon Woo-jin could be genuinely satisfied with.
"Since it's come to this, you'd better hold up your end properly."
Na Chwi-ryang leveled a glare at him, voice low with menace. "If you can't do your part and only drag me down, I won't let it slide."
"If that happens, blame not me, but the discerning eye that brought me to you."
"Cheh. Can't argue with that either."
Na Chwi-ryang grimaced at the retort. "So, where are we headed now?"
"First we find out where the Cheolhwa Brigade is at the moment."
Na Chwi-ryang answered as he strode down the streets of Junggyeongjin. "We're going to Wolhongnu."
"Wolhongnu, hm."
"A den only for the rogues who throw their weight around the 6th Layer. If we ask around there, we'll dig up word on the Cheolhwa Brigade."
Cheon Woo-jin knew of Wolhongnu as well — it was the establishment he had relied upon most heavily during his rogue playthrough of the 6th Layer.
"Fair warning — don't go imagining it's some refined house like the Cheonryongnu on the 4th Layer. Corpses turn up there by the handful, every single day."
"How terrifying."
"Hmph. Save your bravado."
Banter trailing behind them, Cheon Woo-jin followed Na Chwi-ryang toward the pleasure district of Junggyeongjin. Wolhongnu sat in the most secluded corner of the district, and its exterior was decidedly shabby — but the two gatekeepers at its entrance were rather more striking.
One was a man whose body had been artificially modified. His right arm alone had swollen grotesquely beyond its natural proportions, and his right fist in particular was roughly three times the size of the left.
The other was a woman whose hair bristled outward in every direction like a lion's mane. Her gaze looked positively ferocious, and every so often, crackling bolts of electricity leapt from her eyes — a practitioner of a lightning-attribute art, most likely.
"We're going in."
Even those two stepped aside meekly the moment Na Chwi-ryang approached. But when Cheon Woo-jin moved to follow him inside, their demeanor changed utterly.
"And where do you think you're going?"
"This isn't a place any stray can wander into. Beat it."
"…."
Na Chwi-ryang was a renowned heavyweight of the 6th Layer. Cheon Woo-jin, by contrast, was a fresh arrival who had only just climbed up from below. Several factions had taken an interest in him, true — but not to the point where his face would be recognized even in a back-alley gambling den like this.
Cheon Woo-jin glanced toward Na Chwi-ryang, already inside. The lizard showed no intention of turning back.
There was no way he hadn't noticed what was unfolding. Which meant this was deliberate — leave it to me, perhaps. Or maybe it was a test. Was he watching to see how Cheon Woo-jin handled being treated like dirt?
"Are you deaf? We told you to scram."
"If you're that desperate to get in, show some proper respect first."
Cheon Woo-jin simply stood there, not so much as an eyebrow twitching — and at that, the man with the massive right arm contorted his face in a snarl. "Where does a nobody get off posturing like—"
The man thrust his enormous right fist toward Cheon Woo-jin. Against an ordinary rogue it would have burst his entire body apart in a single blow; even a seasoned cultivator would have taken serious damage.
Lightning qi erupts beneath the feet — the body vanishes from where it stood.
Crack!
Cheon Woo-jin conjured lightning qi beneath his soles and slipped aside from the fist. The man, having swung with all his might at empty air, staggered off balance — while the woman watching from the side went wide-eyed at his movement.
If one despised being discriminated against, the answer was simple: demonstrate one's ability so decisively that no one would dare treat them that way again.
Rather than explaining with words, Cheon Woo-jin simply raised his spiritual power.