Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Transcendent Master (3)
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#081: Transcendent Master (3)
Liquor bottles were scattered everywhere.
The patient’s room was filled with a pungent odor, a mixture of spilled alcohol and the existing smell of medicine.
On the bed, Bukgung Baek was spread-eagled and fast asleep.
Looking at the state of the room, the phrase ‘a total mess’ came to mind.
And then.
“…Hall Master?”
“…”
“Hall Master, it’s the First Squad Lead—?”
*Flinch.*
As expected, a hand came flying at me.
I had anticipated this to some extent.
I quickly tilted my head to dodge and threw out a fist.
My opponent was a master of the Enlightenment Realm, feared by the Ten Demon Alliance and envied by the Martial Emperor Fortress.
If I held back while blocking, my hand would surely be shattered.
“Hup!”
*Paaang!*
The Thirteen Strikes of the War King, unleashed in an instant, barely managed to deflect his hand.
“Hoh.”
Bukgung Baek, his eyes slightly open, sat up with a smile on his lips.
“You’ve improved.”
“Aren’t you tired of doing this every time?”
“Confirming a subordinate’s achievements is both a superior’s duty and his right.”
To think he’d resort to violence when he could have just asked. A theory truly befitting the Great Demon Lord Bukgung Baek.
“The reason you came here must be because you couldn’t find the answer, right?”
He pinpointed my worries as if he had just taken a trip through my mind.
“…Yes.”
And so, my consultation began.
When I told him about the conclusion I had reached yesterday…
“I told you to examine what you possess, not to review your martial arts.”
I received an unexpected rebuke.
“…What else do I have besides my martial arts?”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because that’s obviously the only thing I’ve ever learned.”
Bukgung Baek spoke with a frustrated expression.
“Where did you shove what I gave you?”
“What you gave m—!”
Only then did I remember the existence of the elixir.
That’s right.
‘This is an elixir passed down in my family. You can only take it once, so consume it when your body is in peak condition. You can call for me then.’
After the Nine Dragons’ Contest, Bukgung Baek had given me an elixir.
I had gone to him later to consume it, but he had told me it would be better to take it after my skills had matured a bit more, so I had put it away.
I’d been so busy with the dispatch to the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion and brawling with the White Dragon Hall bastards that I had completely forgotten about it.
“Looks like you forgot.”
“…Haha.”
Bukgung Baek sighed, looking at me as if I were a moron.
Something inside me flared up, but he was now a master I could hardly dare to look at.
All I could do was scratch the back of my head and smile.
“Go get it.”
“Right now?”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to reach the transcendent level?”
“Will taking an elixir do that?”
“Of course not. If one could become stronger just by taking elixirs, the greatest master in the world would be the Gold Dragon Hall Master.”
“Then why?”
“It’s possible because you are ready to reach the transcendent level.”
Bukgung Baek uncharacteristically took out a brush, ink, and paper, and wrote the characters for Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
“It is commonly said that to become a master, these three must be fulfilled.”
“Wow…”
“You should already know this. What’s so surprising?”
“It’s just amazing that you know how to write, Hall Master.”
“Do you want to die?”
Surprised by this unexpected fact, the words slipped out before my brain could filter them.
“My apologies. I’ll listen attentively, so please explain.”
Bukgung Baek shot me a cold glare before continuing his explanation.
“The reason you haven’t reached the transcendent level is that the balance of your Essence, Qi, and Spirit is off.”
He then wrote the number three next to the character for Essence.
“Your physical body is flawless. I’d say it’s among the best in the world, excluding the Ten Great Masters.”
At the unexpected compliment, the corners of my mouth turned up on their own.
Next, Bukgung Baek wrote the number two next to the character for Spirit.
“I don’t know what happened at the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion, but the enlightenment you lacked has been filled. This, too, is sufficient to reach the transcendent level.”
“How do you know that?”
“Didn’t I just test you?”
“Ah…”
So he really was checking my skills. I thought he was just annoyed at being woken up all this time.
“The problem is this.”
He picked up the brush and crossed out the character for Qi.
“Your internal energy is pathetic compared to your level. I don’t know how you survived your battles until now.”
“You might not know this, Hall Master, but in a fight, fighting spirit and a flash of wit are more important than internal energy…”
“Are you lecturing me on martial arts right now?”
“My apologies.”
To be honest, I felt a little wronged.
During the mission to rescue Cheong So-so, I had consumed the Cheong Family’s greatest elixir, the Frost Dew Elixir, and gained thirty years’ worth of internal energy.
Thanks to that, I had replenished my lacking energy all at once, which allowed me to survive the life-or-death battles that followed.
And yet, he said my internal energy was insufficient.
Just how many elixirs had those other guys consumed?
‘Damn kids from prestigious families.’
It was like the saying: money buys power, and no money means no power.
“Still, I even took a special-grade elixir from the Cheong Family…”
However, Bukgung Baek’s next question helped me find the reason for my lack of internal energy.
“Then that’s even more of a problem. When was the last time you practiced accumulating qi?”
“…Ah.”
That was it. I hadn’t practiced accumulating qi even once since graduating from the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion.
Thanks to the effects of the War King Arts, which replenished internal energy through combat, I had never felt the need.
Noticing my reaction, Bukgung Baek seemed to understand the situation and sighed.
“What in the world do you think martial arts are?”
“Um… a way to make a living?”
Bukgung Baek stared at me with an expression that said, ‘What kind of idiot is this?’
Under that pressure, there was only one thing I could say.
“…I’m sorry.”
“Enough. Go and bring me the elixir I gave you.”
“Can’t I just go home and take it by myself?”
“I will help you absorb all of its medicinal power.”
“I’ll be right back.”
A master who had reached the Enlightenment Realm was offering to help for free. What kind of windfall was this?
I should ask my sister to pack some fruit for him on my way back.
* * *
“Just chew and swallow.”
I didn’t know what it was made of, but the elixir had a terrible, gamey smell.
It even looked like a dark, bloody clot. Anyone who didn’t know better would think it was poison, not an elixir.
In modern times, I would have immediately reported it to the food and drug administration based on its appearance.
‘With this, I’ll reach the transcendent level!’
The thought of catching up to that bastard Dan Un made me chew and swallow without a second thought.
“Completely entrust the flow of your qi to me.”
“Yep.”
“And don’t open your mouth.”
Bukgung Baek placed his palm in the center of my back.
*Fwoosh.*
A warm and peaceful qi… was what I expected, but no.
*Rumble.*
A ferocious qi, like a black wolf, grabbed my War King’s Qi by the hair and ravaged my body.
‘Gah!’
The pain was like setting off a Chain Ring Force, and a scream almost burst from my lips.
This agony only intensified as the elixir’s power melted into me.
Guided by Bukgung Baek, my War King’s Qi began to attack the absorbed medicinal power by detonating its force.
“Ugh.”
Moreover, the medicinal energy was far from ordinary.
As soon as it entered my body, it radiated intense heat, attacking my internal blood vessels, meridians, and organs.
As a result.
*Rumble. Crash!*
My body soon became a battlefield.
My sixty years’ worth of War King’s Qi and the medicinal energy of a similar magnitude were lunging at each other as if to kill.
*Boom!*
The battle was so fierce that force erupted from my ear canals.
*Clang.*
It shattered a medicine bowl placed in a corner.
Experiencing this entire process inside my body over and over was hell.
No, it wasn’t a metaphor. I really felt like I was going to die.
*Cough.*
Blood from my internal injuries flowed from the corner of my mouth.
But amidst the pain, I could feel one thing.
‘My internal energy is growing in real time.’
The shattered fragments of the medicinal energy were being absorbed by my War King’s Qi.
Thanks to this, the evenly matched war shifted to a 5.5 to 4.5 advantage for my War King’s Qi.
*Fwoosh.*
The qi from Bukgung Baek, resembling a black wolf, entered and tore through the medicinal energy, allowing my War King’s Qi to seize victory even faster.
*Rumble. Crash.*
Before long, I grew accustomed to the pain from the exploding force within my body.
No, on second thought, it wasn’t that I was used to it; it seemed my body itself had been tempered.
My meridians became tougher, my blood vessels stronger, and my organs more solid.
It felt as though my insides had become impervious to blades.
A slightly weary voice came from behind me.
“Unleash the Chain Ring Force.”
What was there to think about?
When the star instructor gives an order, you follow it.
I gathered the War King’s Qi, which had now taken control.
For some reason, the speed at which I could command my true qi felt much faster.
And then.
*Ruuuumble.*
In the deepest part of my body, above the sea of qi, I detonated the Chain Ring Force.
‘Nnngh.’
A storm of force began to rampage from within my body.
*Tremble.*
My body shook from the immense power.
However.
‘I can take it.’
It was completely endurable.
The War King’s Qi, having gained immense power and speed from the Chain Ring Force, began to crush the medicinal energy, and soon, it was completely subdued.
*Thud.*
Having confirmed this, Bukgung Baek removed his hand from my back.
Then, he began to advise me in a low voice.
“Let it flow as it will.”
As he said, I let it be, and the War King’s Qi began to circulate throughout my body, recovering the force it had dispersed.
My body felt rapidly lighter, and a smile spread across my face.
“It should take about two hours, so listen comfortably.”
Bukgung Baek continued his explanation.
“The elixir you took is called the Infernal Poison Pill, passed down through my Bukgung family. It is a concoction of eleven ultimate poisons and the inner core of a Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Beast.”
“…!”
No wonder it hurt like hell.
Hearing the words ‘ultimate poison,’ I wanted to jump up and punch Bukgung Baek in the jaw.
“Now, the natural fiery yang energy of the Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Beast and the celestial yin energy of the eleven ultimate poisons will mix appropriately and become a part of your internal energy. Not only will you gain fifty years’ worth of internal energy, but your body’s durability will also increase dramatically.”
No wonder it hurt like hell.
I suddenly wanted to plant a kiss on Bukgung Baek’s cheek.
In the world of martial arts, safety was a virtue one should always pursue.
I observed my inner self with a pleased heart for two hours.
Suddenly, my War King’s Qi began to condense.
*Crack.*
A drastic change. It was a phenomenon I had never seen since I first awakened the War King’s Qi.
‘Guh.’
A pain like my organs were being squeezed made me almost scream.
The War King’s Qi balled up and up until it was the size of a small marble.
The thirty years of internal energy from the Frost Dew Elixir, the fifty years from the Infernal Poison Pill, and the thirty years I had cultivated through my own efforts were all compressed to their absolute limit.
As its size decreased, its density increased.
And.
‘Fast.’
The speed of the War King’s Qi as it traveled through my blood vessels and meridians had also increased dramatically.
My War King’s Qi was already known for its incredible speed, but with this, the lag when executing techniques would be drastically reduced.
In other words, I had achieved a true unity of mind and qi.
That wasn’t all.
As the internal energy was compressed, all impure energies were filtered out.
As a result, my 110 years of internal energy was reduced to 90, but its power was half again as strong as before.
Confidence surged within me.
A heady rush of power.
I could now understand why Bukgung Baek had challenged the Fortress Lord.
*Flash!*
As I felt my strengthened War King’s Qi, I opened my eyes to see Bukgung Baek perched on the windowsill, tilting a liquor bottle.
Yesterday, I would have told him not to drink so his wounds wouldn’t worsen, but now it looked like the leisurely air of a true master.
Bukgung Baek, enjoying the sunlight as he drank, spoke with a smirk.
“Congratulations on reaching a realm beyond human.”
“Dad?”