Chapter 146

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 146

Chapter Title: Five Qi Convergence

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"Enroll in the Hundred Flowers Academy."

At her master's unexpected words, Baek Liyeon unwittingly lifted her head.

Emotionless pupils gazed down at her, pressing her like an immense weight.

The academy, all of a sudden.

Baek Liyeon rarely ventured beyond the training cave, but on the rare occasions she did, she had overheard the whispers of children her age.

The undisputed heart of the righteous faction at present.

A place where countless young talents gathered to engage in friendly competition, honing not only their martial arts but also their minds to be reborn as true warriors.

"Do I... even have the qualifications for that...?"

What was the reason she lived in this training cave, where even human traffic was exceedingly rare?

Wasn't it to overcome her cursed fate?

"I decide the qualifications. You just need to complete the mission."

The words were still cold.

But the moment she heard "mission," Baek Liyeon's curiosity swelled slightly beyond the anxiety she always harbored in her heart.

However, the words that escaped her master's lips were...

"There is a man named Geum Sihyeon. Monitor him. It would be ideal if you could befriend him."

"......?"

They left Baek Liyeon utterly perplexed.

The thought crossed her mind that this was far too trivial a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠task to call a mission.

"Tsk."

"My apologies, Master."

Her master noticed her reaction and clicked his tongue, prompting Baek Liyeon to bow deeply in prostration.

It must have been a slip of carelessness in her heart.

Even though she knew full well she had no right to choose.

A suffocating silence flowed for a moment.

"This could change your fate. Do what you can to escape the yoke of the Heavenly Slayer."

At those words, Baek Liyeon's heart pounded wildly.

If it was true.

If she could overcome her fate.

What was so grand about monitoring one man?

About befriending one man?

...Of course, Baek Liyeon, who had never made a friend before, inwardly found it hard to believe that something so simple could overturn her destiny.

But wasn't hope something worth nurturing?

.

.

.

After descending the mountain, as she adapted to the wondrous device called a smartphone—something she was touching for the first time in her life—

Baek Liyeon pursued the traces of the man named Geum Sihyeon.

Top scorer in last year's general admissions.

Not only did he reach the Peak Realm mid-semester, setting the record for the youngest Peak expert among Hundred Flowers cadets,

but he also topped the entire grade's scores.

And based on that, he had even become student council president this year.

In the photo, Geum Sihyeon smiled sheepishly—a perfect model of a latent dragon, exemplary and ideal.

But before taking the entrance exam—

"......"

Baek Liyeon had seen Geum Sihyeon.

The moment she saw his black hair and black eyes, so similar to her own, an instinctive revulsion boiled up from her heart for some reason.

Moreover—

Flanking him in broad daylight with a woman on each arm, that lecherous demeanor, that frivolous expression.

The goodwill she had built up through the screen crumbled in an instant, replaced by a subtle hostility.

.

.

.

And now—

"Demonic cult collaborator, pedophile, disgrace of the righteous faction..."

How could someone who looked too young for even peach fuzz, a successor to the cursed demonic cult, brazenly commit such obscene acts?

He was undoubtedly a demonic infiltrator wearing the mask of the righteous faction.

A flame of justice began to burn in Baek Liyeon's chest.

"W-Wait—"

She heard Geum Sihyeon's flustered voice, but Baek Liyeon felt no need to respond and hurried out of the corridor.

Latent dragon, my ass.

* * *

"This concludes the ceremony. I hope you all enjoy your academy life."

Clap clap clap!

My speech, charismatic enough to slap Adolf the mustache across the face and get him rejected from art school, finally drew to a close amid thunderous applause.

Having given the freshman welcome address as representative last year, this time around felt a bit smoother.

If there was one uneasy element...

Baek Liyeon in the front row below the podium, shooting me a sharp, prickling glare.

Curiously enough, I couldn't even sense her presence with my Moon Wheel Divine Eyes. All I felt upon eye contact was an inexplicable displeasure.

That's why she caught me completely off guard earlier.

Pondering how to deal with her—no, to roast her—as I descended the podium.

"Male cadets, gather over here!"

"Female students, this wayyy! Here!"

I took in the sight of Unhak and Na-rang expertly herding the little cadets toward the dorms.

"Phew."

"Sihyeon, good work! Hehe."

Seol noona, waiting with Luri in her arms, handed me a glass of water.

She even knew I liked cold drinks, floating shaved ice chilled with her ice arts.

"Thank you, noona."

"Uhihihit."

I ignored the embarrassingly goofy laugh that escaped her.

Our embarrassingly goofy Moyong Seol had been appointed student council advisor—whether by default or volunteer, I wasn't sure.

"Let gooo."

After briefly admiring the natural wonder of a grave mound hugging a cliff—

"Let's go. We still have a lot of work left."

I hurried my steps to handle the remaining administrative tasks.

Tomorrow should be a bit freer...

* * *

Day two of the semester.

As the new cadets attended ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠their orientation lectures, I faced the wall of course registration.

The biggest issue was—

"Whoa, nothing worth taking..."

For this body, a super-Peak Realm master, there were no courses that held any appeal worth enrolling in.

A disaster born of my far-too-exceptional intellect.

I had filled in my lacking foundations through bone-grinding training and real combat experience.

Exaggerating just a tad, in pure swordsmanship, the number of people in the academy who could beat me could be counted on one hand.

Lately, I was even gaining a slight edge in spars with Seol noona.

- Sihyeon, they say super-Peak gets exemptions under special rules. If you really don't want to, why not do that?

Seol noona had told me about a great option that skipped registration altogether.

Truth be told, that would be cleanest... but...

Revealing my super-Peak attainment publicly still carried too much burden.

How much envy, jealousy, and wariness would pour down?

Until I could grab more tails from the Azure Heaven Society, I shouldn't reveal I had reached a transcendent realm far beyond Peak lowlifes.

"Sigh. Being too good is a problem too."

"Pretentious fit again, you Geum bastard?"

I ignored Moyong Taek's snide voice and, for now, registered for classes by instructor names regardless of subject, prioritizing those I knew.

Student council president privilege.

I hadn't forgotten senior Gona Hu's sweet tip: way more lenient attendance approvals than for regular cadets.

Even then, one slot left.

What the hell should I take?

"Hmm..."

"What the sudden fuss?"

"Lemme see."

I lightly subdued the impudent Peak lowlife Taek and snatched his smartphone to check the registration list.

Taking Dual Sword Basics after already mastering dual swords to mooch credits—like some arrogant study-abroad snob picking a second language—was one thing.

"Social Graces? You join a cult or something?"

This guy.

No way he lost all his money at mahjong and converted to a cult, right?

At my question, Moyong Taek snatched back his phone and grumbled.

"You idiot. Not evil cults—social graces."

There were a few things to nitpick, but I magnanimously let it slide.

Hmm.

Dunno what it is, but maybe I'll grab that one too.

I shoved Understanding Social Graces into my cart.

Registration complete.

"Where you headed?"

"Training."

"Then me too."

"Mahjong training, huh."

"Sharp bastard."

Poor Moyong Taek.

After a moment of mourning for that foolish moth still blind to mahjong's essence of overwhelming luck,

I set out to organize a martial concept I'd recently conceived.

.

.

.

The second-year and student council president exclusive training room was quite spacious and comfortable.

Though farther from the dorms, the facilities were excellent enough to overcome that drawback.

Plus, outer walls built sturdy enough to prevent ominous incidents like the Luri Avalokitesvara fiasco.

This should handle even extreme power surges.

"Fuuu."

I took a deep breath and steadied my mind-image.

Humans must always charge forward.

Super-Peak or not, I would steadily walk the path of martial arts ahead to reach the Supreme Under Heaven.

...Though it still felt daunting.

So I decided to think simply.

Generally, what clearly separated super-Peak from Flower Realm was gang qi sustainability and density.

Prime example: the ganghwan.

As the name implied, a technique to mold gang qi into a bead.

In other words, if you could form a ganghwan, you'd be Flower-grade super-Peak—or transcendent super-Peak, aka Absolute Peak, right?

My Northern Bright Divine Art's internal energy was so vast even Master proclaimed it Flower-grade.

Pffft...

"Hmm..."

Still too much of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a stretch to form a proper ganghwan.

But—

Recently, for fun, I got inspiration from a Hakko Mutube video.

[Moon Water Palace Martial Log: Everything Revealed!]

[Kim Bujang TV / 57 Views]

A middle-aged warrior whose martial arts looked potent but failed to conquer baldness explained:

The martial path is endlessly distant; the first step to true mastery is Three Flowers Gather at the Apex, the second is Five Qi Convergence.

Smelled a bit scammy, but plenty as a clue.

Perfect. My body harbored five qi as well.

Blazing Shadow Heart Formula's heat.

Ginpai ice arts' cold.

Ginpai poison arts' poison.

Forcibly injected demonic arts' demonic qi.

And Northern Bright Divine Art's pure qi.

Condense the five energies into a circle—isn't that Five Qi Convergence?

I can do it. If anyone can, it's me!

"Huuuup...!"

I split my consciousness into five, layering them one by one onto my fingertips.

Amid throbbing headache pain, various energies began releasing from my fingertips simultaneously.

Now, like weaving a thread ball, knot them one by one, bind, condense into a sphere...!

"Ooo...!"

Nearly half a gak of profuse sweat later, the result:

A mesmerizing multicolored orb hovered over my palm, ceaselessly sucking in my body's true qi and slowly growing.

Starting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fingernail-sized, then candy-sized, surpassing golf ball to tennis ball—

Hold on.

This...

Inside the bead, mutually destructive energies—heat and cold, demonic and pure—not only failed to annihilate but began amplifying their momentum.

Not worthy of ganghwan name.

...But brimming with power beyond any ganghwan I'd ever seen...

If it grew more here—

It felt like I wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Hah!"

I severed the link with the orb greedily devouring my true qi bit by bit and hurled it at the wall with all my might.

Shwoooosh—

The orb flew with a brilliant trail like a shooting star.

And finally collided with the wall.

That instant.

A chill raced up my spine, and a bizarre sensation of accelerated cognition surged up—one I hadn't felt in ages.

Usually, this happens when...

I'm nearing danger...

The moment I hurriedly wrapped my body in the Heavenly Silken Black Dragon Robe I was wearing and unleashed full-body protective gang qi—

Boom, thud.

Rumble...!

Kwaaaaa—!

"Arrrrgh!"

The entire world was dyed in blinding light.