Chapter 166: Red Flag (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 166: Red Flag (1)
The most grueling training the world had ever seen had begun!
—Or so Seo-jun had thought until just yesterday.
"Whew...! Haa...!"
He had fully intended to run Hwangbo Hye-ji ragged until her spirit was completely reforged, but...
"I... I can do more...!"
Perhaps shattering that boulder the day before had triggered an awakening within her. Hwangbo Hye-ji’s training was now so intense that even Seo-jun was starting to wonder, Should I stop her?
"Um... maybe you should take it a bit easier?" Seo-jun asked as he hooked another Iron Sphere onto her arm.
These weren't just ordinary Iron Spheres, either. He had imbued them with sorcery, giving them a crushing weight that could physically tear the arms off an ordinary person.
"I'm... fine...!"
Despite the heavy Iron Spheres dangling from her limbs, Hwangbo Hye-ji forced herself to keep throwing punches.
Her face was flushed so red it looked ready to burst, and the throbbing veins at her temples looked like they would spray blood if pricked with a needle.
Startled, Seo-jun hastily sent a Voice Transmission to Hwangbo Jun.
[Hey, hey! She’s going to die! You need to stop her!]
[It is fine. Hye-ah has often trained like this. I was the same.]
No, what if she ends up crippled? Seo-jun could reattach his own limbs if they fell off, but he was pretty sure that wasn't a standard human ability.
[By any chance, if your head falls off, can you just stick it back on?]
[...What kind of nonsense is that? If I could do that, I wouldn't be human.]
Seo-jun’s eyebrows shot up.
"What did you say, you punk?"
"A-Ack! Why are you hitting me all of a sudden?!" Hwangbo Jun yelped as he got smacked.
"Man... that's some terrifying training."
In the end, Seo-jun kept a side-eye on Hwangbo Hye-ji while helping Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah with their practice.
He had originally planned to push Hwangbo Hye-ji to her absolute limits, but honestly, he didn't think he could drive her any harder than she was already driving herself.
"For now, Noona, just keep doing what you've been doing."
Seo-jun placed his hand over Namgung Su-ah’s lower abdomen, sensing the flow of energy within her body.
In Namgung Su-ah’s case, she was growing stronger by the day as she internalized her enlightenments. At this rate, she might be able to challenge the Super Peak Realm by the time the Yongbong Gathering ended.
"Is there nothing else I should do?"
"Nope. If you just stabilize your current realm, you'll probably crush almost everyone anyway."
"Hehe, really?"
Namgung Su-ah gave a soft smile and leaned in close to him.
"Thank you. It’s all thanks to you."
"...No, well. It’s because you worked hard, Noona."
"Hard work alone wouldn't have brought me this far. By the way..."
Namgung Su-ah let out a small giggle, her breath tickling the nape of Seo-jun’s neck.
"When are you going to use that wish? The one from when I won the arm-wrestling match?"
"Oh, right."
He had completely forgotten.
When Seo-jun’s eyes widened in realization, Namgung Su-ah pouted.
"I’ve been waiting to see when you'd use it. Did you really forget?"
"...I’ve just been busy lately."
Namgung Su-ah stared at him for a moment before letting out a chuckle and poking him in the ribs.
"Well, I’ll be looking forward to it, so you have to decide on a wish and tell me, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Mercy was said to run through the veins of the Namgung lineage. Seo-jun very much appreciated that fact right now.
Having survived the encounter, Seo-jun breathed a sigh of relief and stood before Chun-bong.
"As for our Chun-bong..."
Chun-bong glanced around and then subtly stuck her belly out. It seemed she was mimicking what Namgung Su-ah had done, but there was no need for that with her.
"I don't even need to check your Dantian to know everything about you."
"...That’s actually really annoying."
Chun-bong was currently lagging slightly behind Namgung Su-ah. While Namgung Su-ah was catching her breath at the threshold of the Super Peak Realm, Chun-bong still had half a step to go.
Chun-bong knew this too. Training alongside Namgung Su-ah these past few days, she had acutely felt herself falling behind.
Is it time to use my trump card...?
Tsk. Chun-bong suppressed her rising sense of humiliation and tugged on Seo-jun’s sleeve.
"Hey, follow me."
"Huh? What is it?"
Seo-jun followed her without suspicion. Chun-bong led him into a nearby empty room and—thud—shut the door behind them.
As she took a deep breath to steady herself, Seo-jun asked, "What's up?"
"O-Oppa..."
"What."
It had been a long time since he'd heard Geum Chun-bong call him 'Oppa.' Seo-jun reflexively covered his mouth in shock.
Chun-bong didn't stop there. She gripped his sleeve tight, looked up at him through her eyelashes, and pouted her lips.
"...Chun-bu-i wants to win the Yongbong Gathering."
Chun-bong had hardened her heart and decided to commit an act of corrupt solicitation...!
Seo-jun, facing Geum Chun-bong’s high-level aegyo for the first time in his life, completely lost his senses.
"...Of course! Our Chun-bu-i has to win!"
"Then will you teach me how to beat Su-ah Unni?"
"Hmm. That feels a bit too much like cheating..."
"Uuuugh..."
"Gasp!"
In the end, Seo-jun spilled the secret on how to defeat Namgung Su-ah.
Having easily achieved her goal, Chun-bong smirked.
"That was easy."
"You tricked me, Geum Chun-bong...!"
"Ah, yes. Since when did you think you weren't being deceived?"
"I won't let this go!"
"Try it if you can. Do you really think you can hit me?"
Chun-bong stood tall, chest puffed out confidently. Faced with her bold stance, Seo-jun had no choice but to admit defeat.
"Urgh, just kill me!"
"Alright, stop acting like a clown."
Chun-bong asked, her eyes turning serious.
"If I do it this way... will my win rate be around fifty percent?"
Seo-jun also dropped the act and answered seriously.
"Yeah. Just about that. There's a significant gap between you two, so there's only so much we can do."
"Aww..."
"Hey, no more than that. Su-ah Noona would be hurt if she found out."
"I know. I'm not planning to ask for more."
Chun-bong’s eyes gleamed intensely.
As long as I win...!
The honor of the Divine Sword Geum Family and a gift from her brother would be hers in one fell swoop. And it wasn't just any gift—it was a Great Restoration Pill.
With a gift like that... maybe...?
Hehehe.
Chun-bong’s grand ambition took its first step.
*
Even though Hwangbo Hye-ji was training excessively hard, Seo-jun hadn't completely neglected her.
Physical training was one thing, but what she truly needed was mental discipline.
"You've probably heard this before. To reach a high realm, you need conviction in yourself."
"Yes, everyone says that..."
"You have two choices." Seo-jun held up two fingers. "First, you do whatever the hell you want. Second, you follow your mother's words with fanatical devotion, without a single shred of doubt."
It was a statement with a very obvious bias, but it wasn't entirely wrong.
When he explained it using the Demonic Cult as an example, Hwangbo Hye-ji nodded with a gloomy expression.
"What do you mean by 'doing whatever I want'...?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. I'm not telling you to commit some act of filial impiety."
Ideally, he’d feel refreshed if she just slammed a fist into the top of Hwangbo Seo-rin’s head, but if Hwangbo Hye-ji didn't want to do that, then even that wasn't the right answer.
"I'm not saying you should abandon your mother, nor am I saying you should ignore everything she says. And I'm certainly not telling you to become a 'Mother Slayer.'"
"Pardon...?"
"Do as your heart leads. But to do that, you at least need to know what your heart is pointing toward, right?"
Seo-jun had intended to push Hwangbo Hye-ji to find exactly that. Survival instinct. When that intense instinct flared, her heart and her thoughts would surely align.
However, the 'Hell Training' plan had been scrapped before it even began. If he pushed her any harder, she’d die before she ever reached enlightenment.
So, what was another situation that could trigger a survival instinct?
Only one thing came to Seo-jun’s mind.
If someone threatens her with a blade, her survival instinct and everything else will come screaming out.
Indeed. In terms of efficiency, there was no better way.
Now, who should do it?
Lee Seo-jun, Baek Seo-jun, Cheon Seo-jun, Jegal Seo-jun...
No, should he just create a whole new identity for training?
As Seo-jun pondered, Chun-bong watched him with a suspicious look.
That jerk is thinking of something weird again.
She was right.
*
That night, Hwangbo Hye-ji continued her training alone.
She was practicing the Mount Tai Thunderbolt Divine Art, but without the thunderbolt. While executing the technique she had tentatively renamed the 'Mount Tai Divine Art,' she suddenly realized the night wind was unusually cold.
It’s almost summer, so why is it so chilly?
The thought was fleeting. Hwangbo Hye-ji ignored it and continued her training. If it was cold, she just had to move her body.
With the Iron Spheres imbued with sorcery by Senior Jin Gi-jae-cheon hanging from both wrists, she thrust her fist forward with all her might.
Boom—!
A sound that wasn't loud but carried immense weight echoed softly through the night.
It was followed by the sound of clapping. Clap— clap—
"Who's there...?"
Hwangbo Hye-ji turned her head. At some point, a man in black clothes and a mask had appeared behind her.
Normally, she would have been terrified, but after staying at the Namgung Clan’s villa and realizing that strange things happened here often, Hwangbo Hye-ji asked calmly.
"Are you from the Namgung Clan?"
The man in black, Seo-jun, was slightly taken aback.
Isn't the normal reaction to think I'm an assassin...?
Then again, it was a bit strange for an assassin to pop up in Henan at this time of year...
—But hadn't they already popped up a few times? The assassins of the Blood Crow Sect, and even Baek Seo-jun.
Is she just lacking a sense of danger?
Swallowing his bewilderment, Seo-jun curled the fingers of both hands. Krrr—! A murky internal energy swirled around his ten fingers.
It wasn't anything special—just some Death Qi mixed with various other energies to create a rough approximation. It was just enough so that if someone saw it, they might guess it was the internal energy of the Black Lotus Union.
"No need for words!"
Seo-jun’s hands moved rapidly. It was a speed just barely within Hwangbo Hye-ji’s ability to react.
Swish—!
Hwangbo Hye-ji narrowly dodged by twisting her head, her eyes widening.
"An assassin...!?"
The murky energy emanating from the man in black... She had never seen a martial artist from the Black Lotus Union, so she couldn't be entirely sure, but that was highly likely to be Death Qi.
I have to warn the others!
If this man had accomplices, the others were in danger.
"Haa—!"
With a loud shout, Hwangbo Hye-ji unleashed the Mount Tai Thunderbolt Divine Art.
BOOOOM────────!!!
A massive sound thundered through the Namgung Clan’s villa. It was loud enough to jolt even a non-martial artist awake.
But the man in black remained perfectly calm.
"I have already deployed a Qi Membrane. Your struggling is useless."
"That's... that's impossible..."
How many Super Peak masters were in this villa? How could such a thing be possible? There were plenty of people here who would have instantly sensed a Qi Membrane being deployed.
Unless...
Is he a master even greater than them...?
Hwangbo Hye-ji’s mind raced. The assassination of General Cheonyang. The Black Lotus Union assassin who had killed a Super Peak master in the middle of Henan without being detected by anyone.
Her face turned deathly pale.
"Now, why don't you play with me for a while until the job is done?"