Merciless Training and the Weight of the Blood God's Key
Seong-il and his companions arrived at the open clearing that served as the training grounds in the world of Pokso Muhyopjeon. From the crack of dawn, they threw themselves into martial arts practice.
"Straighten your back more!"
"No! Relax the power in your arms and focus on using their natural elasticity!"
"Are you saving all that piled-up inner energy to make soup? Don't just use your body—load your inner energy onto your physical movements and thrust with that feeling!"
The gentle, obedient Eun-wol from the night before had vanished completely. In her place was a merciless instructor driving Seong-il through martial training.
"Huff... Huff..."
"Instead of bending at the waist to catch your breath, gather your inner energy and circulate it through your entire body. It's obvious at a glance that you still have more than half your inner energy left. Getting tired without even using it all means you don't qualify as a martial artist!"
Eun-wol pushed Seong-il without the slightest mercy.
'Fucking hell...'
Under her relentless whipping tongue, Seong-il clenched his teeth and flooded his whole body with inner energy.
'Whew... My body really has gotten better...'
As the inner energy moved through him, the physical agony eased dramatically. At the same time, however, the intense concentration required to draw it out brought on a pounding headache and a crushing wave of fatigue.
"Ugh... But using inner energy makes my head so tired. What do I do about that?"
"Endure it."
"Huh?!"
"There's no other choice but to endure. The mental fatigue and side effects from the extreme concentration needed to push your inner energy to its limit have no cure."
"Then...?"
"The only solution is repeated training. Hammer the forms into your body until you can execute them without conscious thought. Eliminate all stray thoughts so your inner energy activates on instinct. Once your body memorizes the forms through repetition, you'll eventually operate your inner energy unconsciously without any special focus. The fatigue will disappear too."
"Ah..."
"So instead of wasting time talking, manifest at least one more form!"
At Eun-wol's icy command, Seong-il gritted his teeth and executed the forms of the Taiji Sword Art.
But as the session approached one shijin, sweat poured from his body like rain and his vision began to blur. Once the inner energy inside him was completely exhausted, he could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground.
"Kuhuk..."
The young sect leader gazed at him with pity. Just as she started walking over to support the collapsed Seong-il who had hit his limit, Saekma's shout cut through the air.
"You can do it! One more set!"
'That bastard is serious...'
At the vicious demand, Seong-il ground his teeth and shouted the activation phrase.
"Inventory!"
Retrieving Stamina Potion from personal storage.
A crack formed in the empty air, and smoke-like light spilled from the fissure. As the glowing mist flowed toward Seong-il, a glass bottle filled with a mysterious green liquid materialized before him.
"By the heavens..."
Saekma, who had boasted that he'd seen and experienced everything the martial world had to offer, had never witnessed anything like this. His mouth hung open in pure shock, unable to close.
Seong-il greedily gulped down the stamina potion inside the bottle.
"Haaaa..."
The man who had been sprawled on the ground moments ago rose with boundless energy after drinking the liquid and declared to the others.
"One more time!!"
"Just what in the..."
Eun-wol and Saekma stared at him, utterly stunned. Though they had countless questions, the blazing fire in Seong-il's eyes silenced them. They simply closed their mouths and resumed guiding his training.
"Urk!!!"
After the brutal session, Seong-il finally collapsed while vomiting. Eun-wol approached, patting his back as she spoke.
"Let's call it a day here. You've trained hard enough."
"That's right, young master! That's plenty, ya know? Even a martial artist needs to know when to rest his body properly!"
Seong-il nodded at their words.
"All right. I really was at my limit anyway..."
After catching his breath, Seong-il turned to Saekma with a question.
"Saekma, sir."
"Speak freely, young master."
"If I keep training like this... I'll get strong quickly, right?"
Saekma nodded vigorously at the question.
"Of course, ya know! Your natural bones are nothing special, but our mental method allows for rapid inner energy growth. We can overcome that disadvantage no problem!!"
"As expected!!"
"Then roughly how long until I become a true expert?"
"Hmm... About five years...?"
At Saekma's answer, Seong-il's face crumpled as if his insides had collapsed. He asked again.
"What?"
"Why?"
They stared at each other, both wearing expressions of complete confusion. Unable to contain his frustration any longer, Seong-il pressed him.
"Isn't that way too long?"
Even the young sect leader, who had been sitting quietly nearby, looked flustered and scolded him.
"Good heavens. Young master, what kind of ridiculous nonsense is that?!"
"...?"
"Martial arts aren't child's play. Even the children of prestigious families born with excellent aptitudes usually take ten years to master their clan's inherited arts. Five years is basically a steal! A steal!!"
Saekma nodded in agreement and added.
"Exactly, young master! If you expect to become an expert without that much effort, you'd be no better than a thief! If you're going to train with that kind of attitude, you might as well quit right now, ya know!"
The pair scolded him in perfect unison. Watching them, Seong-il fell into despair and thought to himself.
'Damn it... I need to get strong fast so I can see Piri and Erisha. Just how long do I have to keep doing this crap here!'
'And to restock the potions I burn through while training, I'll eventually have to visit the world where I can become an alchemist. But going there without getting stronger first would be completely pointless!!!!!'
Realizing his plan had a fatal flaw, Seong-il sank into despair and slammed his forehead against the ground. Thinking his behavior was nothing more than a tantrum, Eun-wol approached and gently comforted him.
"Young master! Don't worry. You have me. If you train together with me, your skills will improve at an incredible speed."
"No... that's not what I meant..."
"...?"
Eun-wol stared at him blankly. Seong-il let out a sigh, then suggested they rest and eat.
"Let's take a break and get some food."
"Sounds good!"
Despite claiming he had no appetite after the intense workout, Seong-il started with light noodles and side dishes. Before long his hunger kicked in and he added plain dumplings, vegetable dishes, and a simple meat soup. The three of them ate while discussing their future path.
"There's something I'd like to discuss."
"What is it, young master?"
"It's about the wooden box."
"Ah!"
The box containing the key capable of unsealing the Blood God's seal—the very reason this group had come together. Seong-il believed they could never secure true safety in Pokso Muhyopjeon until they disposed of it, so he sought their counsel.
"First of all... this box is too dangerous for us to keep carrying. The righteous factions, the demonic factions, and even the Demon Cult you used to belong to, Eun-wol, are all after it. If we continue holding onto this thing, we'll face endless pursuit from enemies we can't even identify."
Eun-wol answered his words.
"Then why don't we strike first and enter the Blood God's sealing grounds ourselves? The priceless treasures inside would bring us enormous benefits."
"That won't work."
"Hmm... Why not?"
"Are you really asking? Treasures gained when you lack the strength to protect them only invite disaster. Look at your own case. According to the original heavenly secrets, because of your Heavenly Yin Physique you were supposed to be captured by the Chief Guardian and treated as a human elixir—raped repeatedly until you died. Have you already forgotten that?"
"..."
"This key is the same kind of existence for us. I believe something like this should be disposed of as quickly as possible."
Saekma nodded at Seong-il's words and asked.
"Then what would you like to do, young master?"
"Hmm... I think, just as Cheongmyeong Jin'in said, we should hand the wooden box over to Jin Cheon-hui, the leader of the Martial Alliance. At the very least, he's one of the few powerful figures who truly handles matters with fairness and integrity. His martial prowess is also deep enough to protect the item."
"Hmmm..."
"Any other opinions?"
Saekma spoke up.
"Can't we just hide it using that mysterious technique you showed us earlier?"
The mysterious technique was none other than the Inventory ability. After witnessing the shocking sight of him pulling an item out of thin air, they had bombarded him with questions about it the moment training ended. Seong-il had answered while appropriately concealing what he could.
"That... the Inven-tory or whatever you called it! The technique that consumes heavenly secrets..."
"Ah... that one?"
"Yes. From what you explained, once items are placed in that space, no third party can ever steal your belongings... Why not just hide it there?"
Seong-il shook his head.
"That's not a real solution. The biggest problem is that our enemies already know we possess the item. Unless they become certain it has passed to someone else, they'll keep chasing us to the bitter end, won't they?"
"That does make sense. If they think we've hidden it and decide to torture us, we'll have no choice but to confess."
"Exactly. If they can't rob my personal space, they can just take care of me instead, right?"
Listening to their exchange, Eun-wol expressionlessly stroked her long hair.
"Hmmm..."
Seong-il continued persuading her.
"Jin Cheon-hui is one of the few who walks the true righteous path without deviation even after the heavenly secrets were leaked. He upheld justice without wavering even amid massive turmoil. I believe he can be trusted."
"Hmm... Is that so?"
"I'm certain. That man is genuinely a good person. Handing the box to him is the smartest move. The reason the world went so wrong in the previous cycle was because the Blood God's Treasure fell into the Chief Guardian's hands instead of his."
"Well... if that's what you believe..."
As their opinions seemed to converge, Saekma cut in.
"Then our future course is set. First we deliver the box to leader Jin Cheon-hui. After that, we seek out hidden opportunities and grow stronger as fast as possible... correct?"
"Well... yes."
"In that case, may this subordinate offer the young master one piece of advice?"
"What is it?"
Seong-il looked at him blankly. Saekma smiled and said.
"Seeing you use that heavenly secret-related Taoist art, it appears you have considerable talent for sorcery, ya know?"
"Sorcery...? There's something like that?"
"Eh?!"
Both Eun-wol and Saekma shouted in shock at his unexpected reply. Eun-wol looked at him as if he were ridiculous.
"Young master... How could a Taoist not know about that? It's one of their signature skills!"
"Me? I have amnesia and I've only been part of the Taoist sect for three months. It's not strange that I don't know, is it?"
"Ah... Well, that's true."
"Saekma, sir. Since the topic came up, please explain sorcery to me."
Saekma nodded at Seong-il's request.
"Yes. Simply put, sorcery is a mysterious Taoist art in which the practitioner forcibly gathers the energy scattered throughout heaven and earth, transforms it into various forms, and projects it outward."
'Oh... So it's like magic?'
Seong-il watched him with sparkling interest. Saekma continued.
"Generally speaking, martial arts accumulate the energy of heaven and earth within the body and deploy power from that foundation. Sorcery, on the other hand, combines the practitioner's inner energy with the pure energies existing between heaven and earth to distort the laws of heaven and manifest them in the mortal realm."
"Ooooooh!!"
"In that sense, I'd like to ask you in return... Did the heavenly secrets contain no information about sorcerers? Seeing you read heavenly secrets and use techniques like that Inven-dory or Inventory, it seems you possess talent for sorcery?"
Seong-il gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
"No. In the heavenly secrets I know, there were no mentions of sorcerers."
"Hmm... Sorcery is considered an ability granted only to those who receive divine revelations from the heavens, so very few people can even use it... I thought that since you read the heavenly secrets you might know something. What a shame."
"Yeah. If I'd known about something like that I definitely would have learned it, but there was nothing of the sort in what I saw."
After letting out a sigh, Seong-il began to confess his worries to them.