Chapter 85: The Fist King, The Vast Martial World Has Many Madmen
The Fist King, The Vast Martial World Has Many Madmen
Chapter 85: The Fist King, The Vast Martial World Has Many Madmen
Dan Woo-sung and Mad God lay sprawled inside the cave, exchanging drunken hiccups. Had they been ordinary men, they would have succumbed to intoxication and departed this world right then and there. But the two were forcibly expelling the alcohol's influence. Dan Woo-sung, swaying drunkenly, slurred out a question.
"Senior... how many cups have you had?"
Mad God, sprawled on the ground like a dog, replied.
"Five. I think this is my limit. You?"
Dan Woo-sung burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha... I've had six. Looks like I win."
Mad God, lying flat on his back, grinned crookedly.
"You fool, fine, take the win. Must feel good, huh? Damn, I'm already full—how the hell did you drink that much?"
This was no ordinary liquor.
Both Dan Woo-sung and Mad God were thoroughly wasted. Suddenly, Dan Woo-sung glanced up at the stalactites on the ceiling and chuckled.
"Senior... is this really just alcohol?"
A brief silence passed before Mad God erupted into laughter.
"KHAHAHAHAHA! Could be. That'd be hilarious. Nah. It's similar to when I drank the Supreme Elixir in my youth. Nearly died back then, but this is much better. Let's get ready."
Mad God sat up cross-legged, swaying like a drunkard as he recited a poem, waving his hand theatrically.
"Life is but a grand dream—why live it in hardship?
This is why I stay drunk all day long.
Singing, I await the bright moon,
And when the song ends, I shall forget old ties."
Dan Woo-sung stared at him.
"......"
The poem didn't quite suit Mad God's temperament. Dan Woo-sung asked,
"Whose poem is that?"
"Li Bai's Spring Day, Drunk, Rising to Express My Thoughts."
Mad God had cherry-picked the beginning and end, twisting it to his liking. True to form, he smirked and added,
"Poems by those who live comfortably always sound like this."
Dan Woo-sung nodded.
"Indeed. Not your style."
"Exactly."
Mad God pointed at Dan Woo-sung and flipped Li Bai's poem on its head.
"How can I forget?"
Like drunkards exchanging philosophical ramblings, they nodded in agreement.
"How could I forget?"
Mad God smiled.
"I never forget."
"Neither do I."
"Life is but a grand dream—so I shall live it even harder.
Singing, I await the moonless night,
And with sealed lips, I shall remember—again and again.
This Mad God has never forgotten."
Suddenly, their eyes met, and they grinned. Mad God's heart was no different from Dan Woo-sung's.
Taking a deep breath, Mad God closed his eyes and began his breathing technique despite his drunken state.
"Let's begin. From now on, this opportunity is mine."
Dan Woo-sung steadied his own breathing.
"And mine as well."
Glancing around, he quenched his thirst with the clear water dripping from the ceiling. There was no telling how long this session would last.
Had it been anyone else but Mad God and himself, they would have died drinking the Heavenly Peach Wine here. The two had forged an extraordinary tale.
Before closing his eyes, Dan Woo-sung settled into a spacious spot and looked at Mad God one last time.
The moment Mad God began his breathing technique, three distinct rings of energy formed above his head—the visible manifestation of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown. The convergence of three blossoms blooming at the peak of one's being. If he was already displaying this at the start, Five Qi Returning to the Origin might manifest by the end.
This wasn't a spectacle to merely observe—Dan Woo-sung began his own breathing technique immediately.
His condition was precarious.
While circulating the Great Heavenly Cycle and refining the Heavenly Peach Wine's energy into internal power went smoothly, the space was limited, yet the energy flow was endless. The elixir's power overflowed, so after completing one cycle, Dan Woo-sung forcibly expended energy using the mental techniques of martial arts from his past life.
Black Dog Rebound Technique.
He repeated the defensive art's mental method—the same one he had taught the Double Report Brothers—multiple times to burn through the energy. Then, he converted vast amounts of it using the Dissolving Divine Art before repeating the process dozens of times. The moment he sensed Qi Deviation looming dangerously close, he switched to the White Lightning Ten Stages mental method.
Time lost all meaning.
His body drenched in sweat before expelling impurities as if undergoing Bone Forging Body Transformation. Only when dizziness struck did he realize the severity of his situation. Using the Divided Mind Art, he detached himself, splitting into three avatars.
Each dedicated themselves to Black Dog Rebound Technique, White Lightning Ten Stages, and Dissolving Divine Art.
Is this what self-fragmentation feels like?
Failure to control this would lead to Qi Deviation.
The overseer of these three avatars was Dan Woo-sung's core self—the strictest personality within him. Yet, the Heavenly Peach Wine's energy still overflowed.
His options were: his body exploding, vomiting blood, or his mind collapsing into ruin.
Left with no choice, Dan Woo-sung began interweaving the mental methods of Black Dog Rebound Technique, White Lightning Ten Stages, and Dissolving Divine Art, rearranging their sequences, deciding what to add and subtract, all to synthesize them into a single martial art.
Even amid this chaos, his mind remained eerily calm.
First, he named the unified martial art.
Enlightenment Divine Art.
Enlightenment meant complete understanding. Before perfecting it, Dan Woo-sung gifted himself a mental vision—entering a state of selflessness, mastering martial arts, eradicating the Demonic Path, defeating even the Three Gods, and storming into the Divine Martial Banquet to pummel Jin So-han and Baek Mujin.
The corner of Dan Woo-sung's lips curled as he sat cross-legged with closed eyes. The characters of the mental methods fragmented like shattered glass before being reassembled under the Fist King's martial wisdom.
Black Dog Rebound Technique was a defensive art that hardened specific body parts like steel. Dan Woo-sung combined it with White Lightning Ten Stages, designing it to defend with lightning energy. Then, he erased the Divided Mind Art's arrangement—which had split his focus between Void Grasp and lightning energy—merging everything into a single martial art.
As he refined the energy flow sequence, the foundation of Enlightenment Divine Art solidified as if he had already begun mastering it. True enlightenment erased the line between foundation and mastery. Thus, Dan Woo-sung established clear theory while continuing the Great Heavenly Cycle.
Three days passed like a gust of wind.
On the third day, Dan Woo-sung quietly opened his eyes after eliminating the Heart Demons that had wandered his mind like lost souls.
"Phew...."
The moment his eyes opened, his vision had sharpened—the world appeared in finer detail. His hearing had also improved startlingly, granting him spatial awareness through sound alone, imprinting events beyond sight directly into his mind.
Then, he suddenly locked eyes with a stranger staring at him. Dan Woo-sung blinked in disbelief.
"Senior?"
Mad God grinned broadly.
"Awake?"
Dan Woo-sung studied Mad God's face closely.
"What happened to you?"
Mad God touched his own face.
"What do you mean?"
"You've gotten younger. I'd believe you if you said you were my eldest brother."
Mad God no longer looked like a man in his fifties—he had regressed to his late thirties or early forties. Unless one had sharp eyes, guessing his true age would be near impossible.
Mad God laughed.
"HAHAHAHA!"
Even his voice brimmed with renewed vitality.
He explained,
"The energy was overflowing, and I had no way to expend it. Trying to burn it through martial arts or mental techniques wasn't easy. So, I recalled the Disguise Art I learned in my youth and altered my reflection to look as young as possible."
While Dan Woo-sung had forged Enlightenment Divine Art, Mad God had poured most of his energy into reversing his aging.
Mad God sighed.
"A shame, but what can an old man do? Overflowing energy leads to nonsense like this. Any progress on your end?"
Dan Woo-sung replied,
"I synthesized the martial arts I've been practicing."
Mad God whistled.
"That's no small feat..."
"I trusted you'd pull me out if I fell into Qi Deviation."
Mad God blinked.
"Hey, junior. I just woke up too. Was about to stretch when you opened your eyes almost simultaneously. No idea how much time has passed."
The two rose from their meditative poses and silently observed the stalactite cave. Though it seemed like a simple matter of consuming an elixir and cultivating internal energy, the process had been grueling—death had brushed past them multiple times over those three days. Thus, they couldn't recklessly touch the remaining Heavenly Peach Wine.
Mad God spoke without hesitation.
"Whoever fate leads here will drink it—or die trying. We survived, so that's that. Let's go."
"Let's."
As they exited the cave, Mad God said,
"If you ever take a disciple, bring them here someday. They'd need to be at least as strong as you when I meet them."
Dan Woo-sung replied quietly,
"Understood."
The Youngest Lee Jin-eon or Cheol Myung-ho would likely die instantly upon drinking this elixir. In terms of qualifications, Baek Yak might handle it, but she practiced Extreme Yin martial arts requiring elixirs like the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, so this wasn't something to offer her yet.
Emerging at the cliff's edge, Dan Woo-sung gazed at the Nameless Peach Garden. He had come here because of Mad God. He couldn't help but feel that opportunities like these always stemmed from human connections.
As Mad God peered down the cliff, Dan Woo-sung called out.
"Senior..."
Mad God waved him off.
"Don't bow. Bad luck. We're hardly the types for formalities."
Dan Woo-sung, who had been about to bow, awkwardly straightened up.
"Understood."
Suddenly, Mad God stared at the world below and said,
"When we return to the martial world, don't call me Mad God. The Demonic Path is wary of that name—I don't want them on guard. Don't call me 'senior' either. You've grown strong enough that addressing me as such would carry weight—and I dislike even that. To the Demonic Path, I want to seem like some random nobody. A weakling who'd die if they so much as touched him."
Dan Woo-sung listened, then replied casually.
"Understood... Hyung-nim."
Dan Woo-sung was no ordinary madman either. Mad God tilted his head before nodding resignedly.
"Hyung-nim, huh... Well, I am your hyung. Even Yoo Jung-hong never called me that, yet you went and did it. Impressive brat."
"You flatter me."
"They say the martial world is vast and full of madmen—guess living long enough lets you see it all. You better live long too. Let's go, Mad King."
The God of Madmen and the King of Madmen leaped off the cliff together.