Chapter 58: Henan (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 58: Henan (1)
The group ran for three days and nights without rest before finally settling on a suitable mountain.
If anyone was still tracking them after all that, there was simply nothing more they could do.
From what Seo-jun had heard, the Sect Leader of Mount Hua was in the Transcendent Realm. If the man had intended to give chase, he would have caught them long ago. It was highly likely that the pursuit had been that bastard Jong-in’s solo act.
Seo-jun first laid down Chun-bong, whose condition was poor after nearly falling into Qi Deviation, before making a spot for himself by the campfire.
"Go to sleep first. I'll take the night watch today."
"Young Master Lee, you haven't slept a wink in three days."
"You're in the same boat, Noona. Just go to sleep."
During their long flight, there had been nothing to do but talk. Seo-jun felt genuinely grateful to Namgung Su-ah for risking her life to fight alongside him, and after sharing various stories on the road, they had grown quite close.
At least, that was what Seo-jun thought.
"More importantly, how long are you going to keep using formal speech? You're older than me..."
"Shh. Don't talk about age."
"Got it."
Namgung Su-ah gave a faint smile and lay down, wrapping herself securely in a blanket.
"Then I'll take over for you in a little while."
"You don't have to..."
Who was he? He was Lee Seo-jun, a Super Peak expert. Staying up for three nights was absolutely nothing to him.
However, Namgung Su-ah shook her head firmly.
"I said I would, so just leave it at that."
"Fine, then."
Crackle— crackle—
The popping of the sparks felt exceptionally loud in the quiet night. Glancing back, he saw Namgung Su-ah with her eyes closed.
And Chun-bong? She had fallen asleep ages ago.
"Hmm..."
Seo-jun stared blankly into the campfire, his thoughts drifting back to the topic that was still cluttering his mind.
'As I thought... that woman must have been the one who sent me to Murim.'
He wasn't sure about the specifics, but seeing as she had called him the "sprout of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons," it seemed highly likely.
Lord of Ten Thousand Demons. If he had to guess the meaning, it probably referred to a monarch who stood above all demons.
Wasn't that basically the Heavenly Demon?
'Was I actually the Heavenly Demon?'
Pop—
The campfire sparked as if telling him to stop spouting nonsense.
Seo-jun let out a hollow laugh and poked at the fire with a stick.
One thing was certain. By reaching the Super Peak Realm, his Essence-Qi-Spirit had achieved balance—even if it was through a makeshift method. Because of that, memories he had once experienced but forgotten were beginning to resurface one by one.
Even memories from his earliest childhood flickered faintly in his mind. The sensation of being in his mother's womb, the sudden contrast of cold and warmth upon being born, and his mother's brightly smiling face when his vision finally cleared.
'Maybe even Mom...'
Was she also dancing to that bitch's tune?
That woman had laughed hysterically even with her head crushed. It was an absolute certainty that she wasn't a normal human.
And this had happened in modern society, not Murim.
If that woman had sent him to Murim, could she be some kind of divine being? But if she were divine, why would she go through such trouble just to find him? Was it merely for her own amusement?
And another thing.
If he really was the "sprout of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons," why didn't she just take him herself? If she was dedicated enough to seek him out personally, she easily could have.
Was she unable to?
Another world, or another dimension. Whatever you called it, there might be some sort of restriction on crossing over. If there wasn't, he would have seen martial artists roaming around modern society from the start.
A guy at the Profound Realm could probably take on the entire modern world and win, right?
He didn't know. He hadn't even seen a martial artist in the Transcendent Realm yet, let alone the Profound Realm.
Regardless, with his current strength, tearing through dimensions to return to the modern world was impossible. That meant that woman was, at the very least, in the Profound Realm or higher.
Or she had an accomplice of that caliber.
Well, whoever it was, they probably weren't just in the Transcendent Realm. Even though he hadn't reached that stage himself, his intuition strongly told him that such a feat was impossible for someone at that level.
That fucking bitch.
She had been unnecessarily tight-lipped, only speaking two sentences to him.
Anyway, his conclusion was simple. Since she was the one responsible, he would just crush her head again. If she didn't die the first time, he'd keep crushing it until she did.
"Fuck..."
Slap! He struck his trembling leg to calm it down.
Still, having reached the Super Peak Realm, his emotions didn't fluctuate as wildly as they used to. He quelled his anger and slowly inhaled.
"One Chun-bong... two Chun-bongs..."
As he counted the Geum Chun-bongs in his mental imagery, a sense of peace quickly washed over him.
Seo-jun closed his eyes and embraced the energy of heaven and earth.
The energy of heaven seeped in through the Baihui point at the crown of his head, while the energy of earth flowed up through the Huiyin point at his groin.
As his internal energy raced through his cleared Governing and Conception vessels, it gradually gathered speed, causing his body to float slightly off the ground.
'I've only just reached the Super Peak Realm, and I already have to forge a completely new path on my own.'
It was a fact he had only realized after breaking through to the Super Peak Realm: the "stars" embedded in his Astral Qi were not merely power-ups or weapons meant to increase his destructive force.
The stars were manifestations of his mental imagery.
Seo-jun exhaled, slowly spreading his internal energy into his surroundings. At the same time, he plucked a river from his own mental imagery and set it afloat atop his internal energy, shining like a star.
Rumble—!
His internal energy flowed around him like a raging river. Feeling it through his Qi Sensing, Seo-jun smiled faintly.
This time, he withdrew the river and condensed a single plum tree into a star, letting it flow over his internal energy.
Whoosh—!
Astral Qi scattered like falling petals, swirling beautifully around him.
The verification was complete.
With his eyes half-open, Seo-jun now took heaven and earth as his stars.
The energies of heaven and earth pouring into his crown and groin each found their proper place, and Seo-jun settled in the center, embodying "Man."
Heaven, Earth, and Man.
Based on the Three Talents Heart Method he had first learned, the martial achievements he had accumulated until now began to stack, one upon the other.
Crack—!
As the process deepened, profound changes began to occur within Seo-jun's body.
The Bone-cleansing and Body-changing, which had been left incomplete during his frantic battle with Jong-in, resumed right here and now, reconstructing his physique to perfectly house the martial arts he had mastered.
Seo-jun knew. He could stop this process at any time, and he could resume it at any time.
As his body slowly transformed, he extended his Qi Sensing outward, keeping a vigilant guard over his surroundings.
*
When the moon, which had been tilting toward the east, hung dead center in the night sky, Seo-jun's floating body slowly descended to the ground.
His entire body overflowed with explosive strength.
Slowly rising from his seat, Seo-jun suddenly pinched his nose at a foul stench.
"Ugh...! What is that smell?!"
The stench was coming from his own body. The impurities that had accumulated within him over his lifetime had been expelled through his pores.
After manifesting Astral Qi across his skin to burn away the black sludge, Seo-jun examined himself.
His boyish frame was completely gone, replaced by a solid, imposing physique packed with Combat-Compressed Muscle.
"Oh..."
Because his clothes had been shredded to pieces by the violent surging of his internal energy during the Bone-cleansing and Body-changing, he was able to inspect every inch of his new body quite thoroughly.
Nodding in deep satisfaction, Seo-jun turned around to grab a fresh change of clothes.
"Oh my..."
Standing right there was Namgung Su-ah. Her face was flushed bright red, and her hands were covering her eyes.
However, her vividly blue eyes were perfectly visible through the wide gaps between her fingers.
"Hehe... don't mind me. Please, continue what you were doing."
"GYAAAHHH...!"
*
After hurriedly throwing on some clothes, Seo-jun stood a good distance away from Namgung Su-ah and glared at her.
He had grown quite a bit taller, making his spare clothes rather tight, but that wasn't the important issue right now.
His invincible Chun-bong shield was in a deep sleep, snoring softly, completely unaware of the tragedy that had just occurred. It was a desperate crisis.
"You pervert...!"
"My, you were the one who showed it to me, Young Master."
"Guaaargh...!"
Seo-jun wailed in despair. Namgung Su-ah laughed, her face still flushed as she placed a hand on her cheek.
"It was quite impressive..."
"I'm really going to sue you! I'm going to tell Chun-bong everything!"
"Yes, yes."
Namgung Su-ah chuckled as she stood up, but she suddenly stiffened and clutched her chest.
"Ugh..."
"...Are you hurt?"
"A little. But considering I fought a Super Peak martial artist, I'm in pretty good shape."
Seo-jun cautiously approached her.
If she hadn't been there when he fought Jong-in, something terrible might have happened to Chun-bong. Since he owed her a debt of gratitude, he couldn't help but be concerned when she groaned in pain.
"Well... if it's an issue with your internal energy, I might be able to help."
At those words, Namgung Su-ah blinked at Seo-jun before slinking back down to her spot.
"Mm... it hurts."
"So, where exactly does it hurt?"
"My chest."
The Great Mountain. No. Seo-jun glanced at her chest and scratched his head.
"Muscle pain?"
"I think it's something like that."
"Aha."
It made sense that carrying those massive things around would cause back and chest pain. As Seo-jun nodded in genuine understanding, Namgung Su-ah gave him a sly smile and a peculiar look.
"I think I'd feel better right away if you massaged it for me, Young Master."
"Wow... are you crazy?"
"How cold."
Lightly brushing off Namgung Su-ah's shameless flirtation, Seo-jun flicked his hand toward the fire.
"You're wide awake now, right?"
"Yes."
"Then do you want to talk for a bit?"
"I'd always welcome that."
Namgung Su-ah got up and sat next to Seo-jun.
Seo-jun poked at the campfire and cast a fond glance at the sleeping Chun-bong.
"How does Chun-bong look to you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Just... since you're both women, I thought you might see something I don't. She's had a rough life, so I wonder if she has hidden scars on her heart... or if there's something I'm too dense to notice... things like that."
"To my eyes, she looks wonderful. Geum Mae relies on you very much, Young Master."
"I see..."
Namgung Su-ah smiled softly, delicately covering her mouth with her sleeve.
"By the way, I'm sorry. I ended up finding out that Geum Mae is the sole survivor of the Divine Sword Geum Family."
"Don't be sorry. That bastard Jong-in is the problem."
"Hehe, true. Actually, I only knew him to be a bit dark-hearted for a Taoist, but I never imagined he was such a degenerate."
Namgung Su-ah opened her eyes—which she usually kept squinted shut—a bit wider. Her vivid blue pupils clearly reflected Seo-jun's image.
"Do you know about the secret techniques of the Black Lotus Union, Young Master?"
"No."
Honestly, rather than the secret techniques, he was far more curious as to why someone who could open her eyes that wide always walked around with them squinted.
"The Black Lotus Union possesses many secret techniques, but the one Elder Jong-in was trying to receive was likely a type that extends one's natural lifespan."
"It seemed that way."
"Yes. And those types of techniques are entirely based on human sacrifice. You extend your own life at the cost of another's."
"Then it would certainly be difficult to perform within the Mount Hua Sect."
"Difficult... it's far beyond that. He would immediately become the Public Enemy of Murim, wouldn't he?"
That was true. Seo-jun nodded in agreement.
A comfortable silence lingered between them for a while. Since Seo-jun wasn't much of a talker, he just awkwardly poked at the fire. Then, Namgung Su-ah suddenly leaned her head intimately close to him.
"Whoa...! You scared me..."
"Young Master Lee."
"Yes?"
"After we stop by Hubei, how about making the Namgung Clan our next destination?"
"Please pretend to be my lover just once in front of my father," she said.