Chapter 49: In the Rain (2)
Chapter 49: In the Rain (2)
"Have you no shame?!"
"You're the one who should be ashamed, launching a sneak attack on us when you're at the Peak Realm!"
"You brat!!"
Navigating through a dense forest in a downpour was closer to acrobatics than running.
Lightness Arts were focused on being light, fast, and jumping further; they weren't designed for trampling over slippery, uneven terrain. One slip here would lead to a catastrophe.
With Murong Cheong on my back and one of my hands injured, I didn't even have the luxury of performing a breakfall. And right now, an enraged Peak Realm master was hot on our heels.
"Put me down!! It's better... if we fight together!!"
"We stand no chance!!"
"Even if we run! He'll eventually catch us!!"
We had to scream into each other's ears just to be heard over the howling wind and the sound of our own Lightness Arts.
I ignored the throbbing pain radiating from my right hand and shouted back.
"I need to buy time!"
"What's going to change if you buy time?!"
"At least we'll be putting up a fight!! Shut up and tear my sleeve!!"
"Your sleeve?!"
Supporting Murong Cheong with my injured right hand, I reached up with my left, which was clad in a gauntlet. My soaked martial arts uniform fluttered violently.
"To stop the bleeding! Hurry!"
"Y-Yes!!"
Riiip! Murong Cheong tore the hem of my sleeve into a long strip of cloth. The red sleeve, characteristic of the Peng Family uniform, came away in a long shred.
"Now search my pouch! The silk one! The one wrapped around a wooden box!"
"Wait! Just a second!! This? Is it this one?"
"I can't see from here! Is it a wooden box?"
"Yes!"
"Break the wax seal and take out what's inside!"
As I shouted, I immediately spun my body around. It was a desperate move to turn back while running, but I had no choice if I wanted to respond. I ignored the small scream Murong Cheong let out as she clung to my neck.
Vwooooom!!
A fierce wave of energy surged forward, practically pulverizing the raindrops in its path. I clenched my left fist and swung hard.
Clang! Even though I had only deflected a single flying dagger, the impact was enough to make my frame stagger. My entire forearm felt like it was vibrating.
Still, I had blocked it. And for a strike from a Peak Realm master, I had handled it quite well!
"Medicine?! Is it medicine?"
"Something like that! Put it in my mouth!"
"W-Wait! It's shaking too much!"
Clinging to me so tightly she was practically strangling me, Murong Cheong fumbled and brought a small pill to my lips. I could feel a presence closing in rapidly.
I quickly opened my mouth and swallowed the pill.
"Ugh!! Why did you stick your tongue out?!"
Ignoring Murong Cheong’s look of disgust, I set her down on the ground. I gripped the hilt of my saber with my dripping, bloodied right hand and drew it. Murong Cheong gasped in horror.
"You need at least basic treatment! You might lose the use of your right hand forever!"
"The bodies of the Peng Family aren't built that way."
"What kind of nonsense is that!"
It wasn't nonsense. This precious daughter of a Great Orthodox Clan simply didn't know what the Peng Family’s training was like.
Fractures and ruptures were considered trivialities. In sparring sessions with live blades, being impaled was a common occurrence. Yet, no Peng Family warrior died during training—at least, none of the direct lineage. Was it because the training was delicate? No. Absolutely not.
The elders of the Hebei Peng Family who oversaw sparring didn't possess such soft sensibilities. They were equally and impartially violent toward every martial artist.
However, those who carried the Peng bloodline had physical structures that were 'specialized' for martial arts. Specialized for killing, for moving the body efficiently, and for recovering from injuries to return to peak condition.
A hole through the palm? As long as the bones and nerves were intact, it would heal within three days. Incredibly, the flesh was likely already knitting itself back together even now.
I wasn't sure if this still qualified as being 'human,' though. There was a reason we underwent Cleansing the Marrow in a horrific medicinal bath as soon as we could walk. Literally, the effects of scouring the skin and grinding the marrow had been poured over our entire bodies since childhood.
The result was a body that was peerless in the world when it came to External Arts.
"Have you given up on running? How cute. Do you intend to fight?"
"Did you think I stopped to make peace?"
"…You need to be taught a deeper lesson in etiquette."
"How are you going to teach me what your own mother couldn't?"
"I will not let you die easily."
In the distance, I saw the man raise his sword with a sinister smile. Gripping the saber tightly in my right hand, I wrapped the torn fabric Murong Cheong had provided around it, securing my grip firmly.
I could still move my wrist, but I wouldn't be able to make the delicate adjustments required for a proper grip. But that was fine. As long as I didn't drop the damn thing, it was enough.
I rested the saber casually on my shoulder. I let my gauntleted left hand hang relaxed in front of me. My body was angled diagonally.
My gaze...
"What a load of crap."
My vision began to stain red as I scanned every inch of the approaching man.
"Blood...?! You're bleeding from your eyes...!! Did you suffer an internal injury?"
"Don't make a fuss."
I just doped up.
It was the secret internal energy steroid left behind by my childhood friend, Seong Won-ho.
The Heavenly Silkworm Purple Blood Tear.
It was my life-saving trump card that I had pocketed after taking care of Won-ho.
Only an amateur would ask why I’d consume a deadly poison from the Five Poisons Sect that causes bloody tears to flow immediately and destroys the body by depleting internal energy if the awakened state is maintained for too long.
An expert would first consider what Won-ho achieved after taking it. One should remember that a mere teenager, upon taking a single pill, suddenly reached a grand awakening, opened his Middle Dantian, assassinated five First-Rate warriors of the Peng Family, and returned to society perfectly fine.
The medicinal properties were potent enough to be sustained even by the weak External Art training of an assassin style at that age. The reason he had refused to take it until the very moment he died at my hands was likely due to the dosage cycle.
It was a secret medicine that allowed one to fight normally for a significant amount of time even after taking it twice in a short period. As long as one followed the apothecary's advice, this was a drug close to a once-in-a-lifetime fortuitous encounter.
I just hoped the Five Poisons Sect couldn't mass-produce this stuff.
"Whew..."
I forced my eyes open, despite the blood dripping from them, and stared at the unnamed White Lotus Cult Peak Master.
"I'm glad it's raining. It hides the tears."
"Stop talking nonsense! It's not hidden at all!!"
"Haaa..."
I could clearly feel the pill dissolving and spreading in my stomach. I felt the intense energy surging through my entire body as the drug took effect. This wasn't just amplifying internal energy. Now that I’d taken it, I understood.
Thump!
The Middle Dantian. The effect was to forcibly strike and awaken the acupoints of the heart. The medicine was created for that purpose alone. To awaken the Middle Dantian for a short period.
Boom. Boom.
Waves of energy continuously erupted around my body. The pouring rain was being deflected off me—slightly at first, but then with certainty. A Protection Aura, which only forms upon reaching the Peak Realm, began to weave itself crudely around my body.
There was bound to be a reaction to forcibly awakening the Middle Dantian. The Middle Dantian was the heart; the heart, forced to pulse violently, pumped blood through the body with such ferocity that my veins bulged and my eyes became bloodshot. The bloody tears were merely a side effect.
"Did you ignite your Innate True Qi? If you're going to die anyway, I suppose that's a very Peng-like way to go."
Does this guy not know about this medicine? If you trace the origin of this drug, it leads to the West Depot raised by the Imperial Palace, and the West Depot was an organization formed with the help of assassins and the Five Poisons Sect. And I had heard that Noble Consort Yeongjeong was behind the West Depot.
But if the White Lotus Cultists, who are known to have seized control of the Noble Consort and the Crown Prince, don't know the identity of this medicine...
‘Is it not that the Noble Consort is being manipulated by the White Lotus Cult, but rather that she is merely using them?’
Then again, it was unlikely that the high and mighty of the Imperial Palace, who spent their entire lives playing politics, would submissively dance to the tune of an outside force. Fortunately, that was one less worry. These bastards were a bit more incompetent than I thought.
"Let's end this quickly."
"Do you think igniting your True Qi makes you some kind of peerless master? Yes, you're at an age where you might feel that way. Your youthful vigor is quite something to behold, but I can't help but find it ridiculous. What difference does a handful of internal energy reaching a higher realm make?"
The man flicked his sword and approached, taking a starting stance. A sickening sneer was plastered across his face.
"Martial arts is the accumulation of effort. It is mastering the Techniques, Forms, Styles, Intents, and Principles of your lineage so that you can manifest them the moment you desire. That state is called the Peak Realm. Do you really think that just because you opened your Middle Dantian by igniting your True Qi, you've taken even a single step into that sublime realm?"
"Yeah."
He sure talks a lot.
I chuckled and took a step forward. If he wasn't coming, I would. My head was already filled with blood, making me feel irritable even while standing still.
"If you're that scared, I can give you a three-move head start."
"You brat—!!"
His sword lunged forward, shattering the raindrops. A lightning-fast strike. It was clearly a Peak Realm attack, imbued with Sword Force. It was a speed I wouldn't have been able to react to with my usual Hunyuan Art. However, the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Blade was clearly a martial art belonging to the Astral Energy Skills—
Thump—!!
And my Middle Dantian was currently open.
Crackle...!!
No martial art in the world is faster than lightning. That is the Martial Principle contained within the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Blade. To strike after the opponent has moved, yet reach them first. It was a martial art that deeply engraved that one concept.
To stand before every offensive and remain unshaken. Because this was a martial art that emulated the presence of the Mountain Lord, the moment it was mastered, one could discuss the world's greatest techniques—at least in terms of perception and defense.
The Martial Principle, carved out for future generations by a genius of the ages who could have been discussed as the greatest of his time—perhaps even of all time—was this: If you were born with the Peng bloodline and drew your saber to rest it on your shoulder, your steps must never falter, no matter the moment.
K-Boom!!
The blade, wreathed in thunder, clashed against the Astral Energy. The Sword Force and the lightning flickered blue, unable to overcome each other's power, and in that gap—
Boom! Bang! Rumble...!!
Thunder erupted. The shattered waves of energy gouged the earth. Raindrops scattered in concentric circles away from the point of impact.
Beneath it all, the sword and saber crossed. The distance between their exchanges grew shorter.
Clang, clang, clang. As the distance between the two men closed, the clashing of blades became more frequent and more intense.
"You...!!"
I could see it. The hand gripping the sword, the forearm and shoulder it connected to, the lower body planted on the earth. The sword strikes followed every time his balance shifted. The angle of the wrist, the direction of the shoulder joint. All that information gathered to vividly reveal his next move.
Red lines danced in my vision.
It felt as if a corner of my mind was breaking apart. But there was no pain. Only a refreshing sense of omnipotence swirled through my body. As if claiming that I was finally obtaining what I should have had all along.
It was a realm I had experienced once through the True Qi of the Hao Clan Leader.
And I—no, this body, the body of Peng Hyeon-hwi—possessed a brain that understood after one reading and memorized after two. It seemed this talent applied to martial arts as well as books.
This was the second time I was stepping into a realm I had already experienced. Naturally, I was moving more naturally, much more smoothly than when I took Yang Jeok-yo's head.
Everything was possible, as long as it was within the scope of the martial arts I had learned. Embodying the true essence of the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Blade. Manifesting the true value of the Astral Energy Skill, which had previously been denied to me.
Crackle!!
Lightning dwelled on the blade that parried the sword. My heart, transformed into a Dantian, exhaled thunder throughout my body. My blood, my nerves, my marrow—it felt as if they were moving at the speed of lightning. In this moment, a sense of transcendence allowed me to track even the falling raindrops with my eyes.
In that interval...
Zap!
I clenched my fist.
I twisted my waist to form a bow and stomped hard with both feet planted on the ground. The flow of True Qi was like lightning, and the points where the acupoints intersected shone like stars. The lines connecting them in a jagged pattern were a constellation.
And the name of that constellation was...
The Thunderbolt City-Destroying Cannon.
K-BOOOOM!!
Murong Cheong had been gripping her sword, ready to intervene at any moment. However, in the next instant, her feet came to a dead stop.
The pill he had swallowed was clearly the kind that ignited True Qi. From the outside, it looked like the final moments of a martial artist who had detonated their Innate True Qi. He was bleeding from both eyes and letting his internal energy leak out haphazardly.
But it wasn't. He was utilizing even the unrefined waves of energy as part of his martial art. All the internal energy that was breaking, scattering, fading, and crackling took the form of lightning. Even the Protection Aura surrounding him didn't seem to exist to protect him, but rather burned as if to pulverize the opponent.
And the ensuing battle brought a certain conviction to her, who had witnessed the scene of him facing Yang Jeok-yo at the Divine Spear Yang Family.
"This is almost like..."
He wasn't just swinging wildly, unable to control the suddenly surging True Qi. It was as if he already knew everything and had mastered the martial art perfectly, but simply hadn't been able to perform it due to a lack of internal energy. It looked like someone who had already perfected the Martial Principles of the Peak Realm and was only now catching up with his internal energy.
If she were to trace back what process would make such a thing possible, it would likely be...
"As if his understanding and acquisition... have surpassed his physical capacity."
Seeing and learning. In the areas categorized as ocular techniques and innate comprehension, he was so outstanding that the moment he understood, he acquired all the Techniques, Forms, Styles, Intents, and Principles of the martial art. The only thing lacking was internal energy, which could only be accumulated slowly.
That was what his movements claimed.
K-BOOOOM!!
The moment he opened his Middle Dantian and stepped into the Peak Realm, he possessed the talent to drive a decisive blow into the body of a seasoned Peak Realm master.
"Gah...!!"
Murong Cheong’s dazed gaze passed the man who had lost his left arm and was rolling on the ground, landing on the face of Peng Hyeon-hwi, who stood with his fist extended, shedding bloody tears.
"I wonder how my brother would react if I sent him your head."
Even as he spat out such ominous words, he laughed with a cheerful tone.
Despite that, he always boasted about being educated and shrugged his shoulders, yet every single action he took was like that of an uneducated thug.
He unhesitatingly sacrificed the hand he used to hold his weapon—arguably a martial artist's most precious asset—by thrusting it forward.
And despite that, he fought a superior martial artist without a single word of complaint and then laughed after winning as if it were only natural.
This man, whose every action was a contradiction, made her curious.
"Let's go to Wuchang once this is over."
"Why would I go there?"
I saved her life, and now she's talking nonsense. Why on earth would I go to the place where the Martial Alliance is? I'm just a newbie barely surviving the beginner zone.
"The Dragon-Phoenix Gathering will be held this winter."
"I'm asking why I would go there. That's an Orthodox Faction festival."
"I want to invite you as a guest of the Murong Family. Our family will guarantee your safety."
"What kind of nonsense..."
"You must. Definitely."
On the road to the lower government office, Murong Cheong walked ahead, saying those words with a brilliant, white smile.