Chapter 55: Super Peak Realm (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 55: Super Peak Realm (2)
Seo-jun and Chun-bong packed their meager belongings and stepped out of the inn.
Their long stay at the establishment had finally come to an end.
The day to leave Hwaeum County had finally arrived.
"I hate sleeping outdoors..."
It felt like only yesterday that she had been sprawled out in back alleys, but having grown accustomed to a clean bed, Chun-bong grumbled.
"Isn't it actually kind of nice? It’s warm and cozy if you just roll yourself up in a blanket."
"There are too many bugs."
"That’s true."
As they trudged along, a bright idea suddenly struck Seo-jun.
Can’t I create a martial art for pest control?
He figured he could make one by emitting frequencies or scents that bugs hated. The only problem was figuring out what those were.
"Hey, Miss Geum, do you happen to know any scents that bugs hate?"
"I don't know. Was it feverfew? I think I heard they hate that smell."
"Oh."
He decided to keep that in mind and try it out later.
They were just slowly making their way out of Hwaeum County when a familiar voice called out.
"Oh my, what a coincidence."
Namgung Su-ah made her appearance.
Seo-jun, who had sensed her approach beforehand, debated whether or not to draw his sword but ultimately decided against it. Namgung Su-ah seemed like a decent enough person, after all.
"What brings you here?"
"I was just about to leave Hwaeum County myself. To think we’d run into each other like this by chance. I suppose this is what they call fate?"
"I doubt it."
Usually, this wasn't called fate; it was called stalking.
Ignoring his remark entirely, Namgung Su-ah naturally sidled up to him. Clutching her greatsword to her chest, she peeked at the map Seo-jun was holding.
"If you're going this way, it's faster to cut across that mountain over there."
"Really?"
"Yes. You're heading toward the Wudang Sect, right?"
"For now, yes."
"The timing is perfect. I heard that exchanges between the Tang Family and the Wudang Sect have become quite frequent lately, so the food in that region has become incredibly delicious."
At her words, Seo-jun’s expression soured.
"That doesn't make any sense."
"Pardon? What doesn't?"
"The Tang (Sugar) Family and the Wudang (Zero Sugar) Sect are having frequent exchanges? Their ideologies are complete opposites; it shouldn't be that easy."
"Ideologies? While the Tang Family is sometimes criticized for straddling the line between the Righteous and Demonic factions, they are still a prestigious Righteous clan. There shouldn't be any major issues with their ideologies."
"Aha."
Seo-jun looked at Chun-bong.
Unlike Namgung Su-ah, Chun-bong had perfectly understood Seo-jun’s pun, and her eyebrows were twitching violently.
"Ugh, you little brat, seriously!"
Thwack, thwack, thwack!
Seo-jun chuckled as he took the beating. Watching them, Namgung Su-ah tilted her head in confusion before letting out a small laugh and pressing herself closer to Seo-jun.
Squish—
"Hieek...!"
Startled, Seo-jun reflexively threw a punch.
"Guh...!"
Thud!
Clutching her solar plexus where she’d been hit, Namgung Su-ah’s face flushed as she panted. "Haah... haah..."
The look in her eyes was feverish.
Seeing the teardrops clinging to the corners of her half-lidded eyes, Seo-jun recoiled in genuine horror.
"Th-this is sexual harassment!"
"Yes... I'm sorry... I did it without thinking..."
Slurp—
Namgung Su-ah’s red tongue licked her lips.
Is it really okay to travel with this woman?
Hiding behind Chun-bong, Seo-jun trembled.
* * *
In the end, Seo-jun decided to let Namgung Su-ah accompany them.
He had been struck by a sudden, almost delusional anxiety that the crazy old man Jong-in might be chasing them.
Of course, unless that old man was truly senile, he wouldn't actually pursue them. However, Seo-jun calculated that even if such a thing happened, the old man wouldn't try anything strange if a scion of the Namgung Clan was present.
If he still tried something? That would be truly insane.
Doing so would risk starting an all-out war between the Namgung Clan and the Mount Hua Sect.
Surely, even he wouldn't go that far...
"It's this way, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
The group decided to follow Namgung Su-ah’s advice and head toward Hubei by crossing the mountain.
Between the three of them, they were all martial artists in the Peak Realm.
Chun-bong’s physical condition had also improved significantly, so crossing a few mountains was no trouble at all for them.
However, there was one slightly annoying thing.
"It's the Yin-Yang Twin Tigers. I heard the number of demonic beasts has been increasing lately..."
The demonic beasts that occasionally popped up were a bit of a nuisance.
One was a red tiger that looked as if it were wreathed in flames, and the other was a blue tiger that looked frozen solid.
Namgung Su-ah explained, "Once you reach the Peak Realm, they aren't difficult to handle. However, Yin-type martial arts don't work well against the Yin Tiger, and Yang-type martial arts don't work well against the Yang Tiger, which sometimes causes trouble for some people."
She added that they could still be killed by sheer force, but regardless, none of that applied to Seo-jun.
Grrrr...
The Yin-Yang Twin Tigers growled warily at the group.
Stepping forward, Seo-jun gave a smirk.
"There was something I wanted to try."
He had wanted to test this out within the Mount Hua Sect’s territory if possible, but the opportunity had never arisen.
Seo-jun wrapped Yang energy around his right hand and Yin energy around his left, then carefully brought his palms together.
Vrooooooom—
The Yin and Yang energies seemed to harmonize at first, but the minute gaps between them began to widen until the balance finally started to shatter.
At this rate, it would explode.
Naturally, Seo-jun, who was holding it, would be blown to bits. He had to fire it before that happened.
Taking a deep breath, Seo-jun twisted his waist and pulled both hands back to his right hip.
"Ka—!"
Startled by the irrational torrent of power, Namgung Su-ah shouted.
"Young hero! It's dangerous!"
Seo-jun didn't pay her any mind.
"Mae—!"
Watching him, Chun-bong simply shook her head.
"He's always like that, just leave him be."
"Hwa—!"
However, the Yin-Yang Twin Tigers weren't about to just stand by and watch. Anyone could see he was on the verge of unleashing a dangerous technique.
Roar...!
The Yin-Yang Twin Tigers pounced.
"Mae—!"
Just before the paws of the tigers lunging from both sides could strike him—
"Hwaaaaaa!!"
Fake Plum Blossom, True Plum Blossom (嘉煤禍梅花).
The erupting plum blossoms were like a beautiful, ink-colored calamity.
Seo-jun snapped his waist back and thrust his hands forward. The directional explosion blasted out from his grip.
BOOOOOOOOM—!!!!
It was a magnificent Kamehameha... no, it was the Fake Plum Blossom, True Plum Blossom.
Seo-jun puffed out his chest with pride as he looked at the carcasses of the Yin-Yang Twin Tigers, most of whose bodies had vanished.
"That is..."
He felt a strange energy emanating from the corpses.
Rummaging through the remains with his foot, Seo-jun found a round inner core.
"Oh?"
One from the Yin Tiger, and one from the Yang Tiger.
When he held them up and looked at Chun-bong, she placed a hand on her chin and pursed her lips.
"Hmm... Originally, an inner core is the accumulated power of a demonic beast when it's preparing to advance to the next realm. In the case of the Yin-Yang Twin Tigers, I think I heard that when two of them reach the next realm simultaneously, they merge into one... The name was... the Fusion Thunderbolt Heaven-Shattering Tiger? Probably something like that."
"What's with that? Why is the name like that?"
"How should I know? But I heard it's about as strong as a martial artist in the Super Peak Realm."
"Oh..."
Seo-jun scratched his head and held the two inner cores up before his eyes.
One was icy cold, and the other was burning hot.
"These count as spirit herbs, right?"
"Do they look like spirit herbs to you? Those are clumps of demonic qi. If you eat them raw, you'll go straight into Qi Deviation. Don't do anything crazy and just throw them away."
By then, Namgung Su-ah had snapped out of her daze. Her body trembled as she spoke.
"N-no... wait a moment, young hero. What was that just now...? I've never seen such a martial art in my life...!"
"Ah, you mean the Fake Plum Blossom, True Plum Blossom? Well, you see..."
Seo-jun grinned and pointed at Chun-bong.
"She'll explain it to you."
Our Chun-bong is much sharper than me.
She would know how to distinguish between what could be told to Namgung Su-ah and what should be kept hidden.
Sigh.
Chun-bong let out a long, heavy breath.
And then, Seo-jun tossed both inner cores into his mouth and swallowed them in one go.
"What the...! Hey, you crazy son of a bitch!"
Chun-bong exploded in rage.
* * *
Seo-jun had swallowed the inner cores with a certain level of confidence.
The strange energy he felt at his fingertips—according to Chun-bong, this was demonic qi—wasn't an entirely foreign sensation to him.
It's not much different from internal energy.
While demonic qi itself was new to him, in the end, it was just another form of Qi.
Internal energy was Qi that a martial artist took in and dyed with their own color through a heart method to make it easier to handle. Similarly, demonic qi was just Qi that a demonic beast had dyed with its own color.
Therefore, absorbing it wasn't difficult.
Less than a minute after swallowing the inner cores, Seo-jun opened his eyes and beamed.
"Chun-bong! Your big brother is perfectly fine!"
"Just die, you bastard!"
Chun-bong flew at him with a dropkick.
It hurt.
Rubbing his aching back, Seo-jun examined the inner cores that had settled inside him.
I think this will work.
The Essence-Qi-Spirit meta. It wasn't exactly a joke.
Using Qi to supplement Essence and Spirit to achieve balance.
Essence-Qi, Qi-Qi, Qi-Spirit.
These inner cores were the preparation for that.
Of course, it was a sudden idea, so he wasn't entirely certain, but after forming something similar to an inner core inside his body, he felt confident.
Forming a physical organ with Qi to supplement Essence (精), and imbuing that organ with consciousness to fill the deficiency of Spirit (神).
He was now certain that with just one more catalyst, he could break through his Governing and Conception vessels and reach the Super Peak Realm.
"Everyone, stop fighting and have some dinner."
While he was lost in thought and getting beaten by Chun-bong, Namgung Su-ah had apparently prepared a meal.
"Huh?"
Dinner? How?
Looking around blankly, he saw traces of cooking—a campfire, a dagger, and ingredients.
Namgung Su-ah was actually a talented individual capable of cooking!
"Ah, I was just thinking about something else... Wasn't it hard doing it alone?"
"Pardon?" Namgung Su-ah giggled. "I am a martial artist of the Peak Realm in my own right. This much isn't even work. And..."
Namgung Su-ah pointed toward a certain spot.
Ingredients were scattered everywhere, ruined like trash.
"Sometimes, not helping is the best way to help."
Chun-bong flinched, her body stiffening.
"It's okay, Chun-bong. So what if you can't cook? You've fulfilled your role just by being cute."
"Shut up!"
Namgung Su-ah’s cooking was, surprisingly, very delicious.
* * *
The group cleared the area for camp and added more wood to the fire they had used for cooking.
Flutter—
The sight of birds flying around was quite distracting.
For some reason, the sight felt ominous, so Seo-jun gathered all the internal energy in his body to create a sphere.
Seo-jun’s intuition had always been decent, but ever since falling into the Murim, his instincts had grown sharper as his realm increased. Lately, they boasted a significant hit rate.
Besides, he could refill his internal energy quickly anyway.
As Seo-jun was kneading the mass of internal energy, Chun-bong poked her head out from behind his back.
"What are you doing?"
"It's a handmade bomb."
"...Wait. What?"
"I'm going to bury it in the ground."
He compressed Yang and Yin energy, placing a partition of neutral Qi between them.
To slow down the dissipation of the internal energy, he wrapped the outside in a dense layer of Qi. After burying it in the ground, Seo-jun stretched his back.
"Oof... that was tiring. It should last for about six hours."
"And what happens after six hours...?"
"It'll just dissipate."
Chun-bong stared blankly at Seo-jun.
"Hey... have you been picking fights with common sense lately?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Why are you drifting further and further away from common sense, you jerk?! No, seriously, how did you do that?! Kneading internal energy like dough... does that even make fucking sense?!"
Ta-da! Seo-jun pointed to the spot where he’d buried the bomb.
"It just does."
"Gyaaaaaah...!"
Chun-bong threw a fit.
Namgung Su-ah walked over leisurely and giggled at the sight.
"You two really get along well. It would be so nice if I could join in too."
"Hmph, why don't you go away?"
Having apparently bonded over cooking, Chun-bong—who was now speaking informally to her—pushed Namgung Su-ah away.
"Don't be like th—"
"Shh."
Seo-jun stood up abruptly and stared intently into the dark forest beyond.
"Fake Plum Blossom, True Plum Blossom!"
BOOOOOOOOOOM—!!!!
Namgung Su-ah’s jaw dropped at Seo-jun’s sudden act of violence, which had just leveled a part of the mountain.
However, knowing Seo-jun as she did, Chun-bong quickly stood up and drew her sword.
"Hey, what is it?"
"I don't know."
"Typical."
Tsk. Chun-bong clicked her tongue, but she slowly began to circulate her internal energy.
"Ho ho, isn't that dangerous?"
From the darkness, now cleared of trees, a figure emerged.
"Elder Jong-in?"
Namgung Su-ah furrowed her brows.
"Yes, child of Namgung. You should leave this place quickly. This old priest must hurry and execute these two criminals."