Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Pushing Beyond Limits
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Running was no different.
Compared to his time on the Huan Continent, this frail, pathetic body—utterly worthless—tired out in moments even at modest speeds that weren't anything special. His breathing grew ragged, and even circulating the Nature Primordial Art became a struggle.
Part of him wanted to just give up on everything and collapse right there.
But Su-hyeok kept running.
Endure the pain, push past the limit, and the reward would come.
No pain, no gain!
Every reward came hand in hand with suffering.
The body's waste and impurities were driven out by the energy of the Nature Primordial Art surging up through his feet—so close to the ground, separated only by the soles of his shoes.
The greater the pain, the faster the Nature Primordial Art activated.
Sometimes, it even felt like the whirring sound of qi spinning was echoing inside his head.
Of course, it was just an illusion.
There was no way the meager internal energy cultivated by the Nature Primordial Art could stimulate all the way up to his upper dantian.
But it still felt good.
At some point, the ringing would fade, his mind would clear, and power would flood his entire body.
This was no illusion.
The activated innate qi, having purged the impurities, infused his flesh with crisp, vibrant strength.
It shattered his limits and delivered its reward.
"Oppa... a little... slower...!"
The gap between the two, who had run neck-and-neck on the first day, had widened dramatically by day three.
Su-a, chasing after Su-hyeok, finally couldn't take it anymore and let out a pained groan.
Proud as she was, even gritting her teeth and pushing through had reached its end by the second day.
Su-hyeok slowed to a stop and turned to her with a grinning face.
"That tonic I found online? It's pretty effective. Feels like my strength's just surging up."
"Don't... joke..."
"I'm serious. I'll keep circling here, so catch up at your own pace."
Su-hyeok flashed a grin and shot forward again.
Su-a stared blankly at his retreating back for a moment, then furrowed her brow tightly and drew in a deep breath.
She pressed her tongue firmly against the roof of her mouth.
The instant she tried to hold it as long as possible and exhale—
"Keuk, cough!"
The pent-up breath exploded out on its own, wracking her with agony.
Her face flushed red as frustration boiled inside her.
She'd tried to follow Su-hyeok's instructions, but it wasn't easy.
Breathing like that while running felt utterly impossible.
Yet it couldn't be a lie— she'd watched him up close, and his breathing matched exactly what he'd described on the first day.
As she pushed on a little further, Su-hyeok soon pulled up right beside her.
"You look beat. Want to ease up a bit?"
"I'm fine."
Su-a shot back coldly at the calmly smiling Su-hyeok, then sneaked another glance at his breathing.
No mistake about it.
Sensing her gaze, Su-hyeok grinned.
"Give it a shot. If you're lucky, you might catch up in no time—who knows?"
Then he sped past her side once more.
Gritting her teeth as she watched his back, Su-a shouted,
"I'm only buying it 'cause you're my oppa! For real! I'm just pretending to fall for it because you're oppa!"
Su-hyeok turned back wordlessly, offering only a smile.
For a full fortnight, they ran until their lungs burned.
The payoff arrived right on that fateful day.
Scorching energy erupted from the Yongquan acupoint beneath his feet, setting Su-hyeok's running body ablaze. His breath caught in a surge.
His heart felt ready to burst—then ache—when—
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Incredible tenacity detected. Level increased. Talent distribution balanced. All stats +1. Skill! Nature Primordial Art level increased to 2. The alarm blared alongside those bizarre words.
He naturally frowned.
'Level 2?'
Familiar enough from gaming days.
But grafting it onto martial arts? Utterly awkward.
Interface detects user's consciousness. Converting... As if reading Su-hyeok's mind, another voice followed—a subtle, clear tone that sounded feminine yet boyish too.
Regardless, Su-hyeok kept running.
With the level-up alert, the bone-deep exhaustion threatening collapse vanished.
Vitality flooded his body abruptly.
Just like HP refilling on a real-game level-up.
A smile tugged at Su-hyeok's lips.
The human body—so often dismissed as weak—held some fascinating traits.
One was evolution, a principle every animal shared.
It sounded absurd at first.
Su-hyeok himself had questioned the ronin who first taught him martial arts basics on the Huan Continent.
'So, horns could sprout from my head? Or my arms stretch like that bald yoga guy from some game?'
Not quite a master, but the ronin who shared much about the Huan Continent laughed heartily, not quite grasping the reference, then smacked Su-hyeok's head.
Su-hyeok pulled an indignant face at his half-joking icebreaker, but the ronin chuckled and continued.
'The fact that your head doesn't shatter from this fist? That's human evolution.'
One famous sect spanned Earth and the Huan Continent alike: Shaolin Temple.
And there existed the Iron Head Skill.
Not internal, but an external art for tempering the flesh.
The ronin claimed a monk mastering it could shatter steel plates with that bald dome.
Su-hyeok laughed it off as a joke back then. A human skull cracking steel? Sure, he'd devoured plenty of fantasy novels and games in modern times, grasping qi and internal energy fine. But pure physical limits without that? Impossible.
Then it happened for real.
About two years after that ronin—who'd grinningly explained Huan Continent ecology and martial arts—died on the battlefield.
In the Huan Continent's southwest, he witnessed a demon famed in the region clash with a warrior monk trained at Shaolin.
Their internal arts and forms seemed evenly matched.
They fought to total exhaustion; Su-hyeok figured victory impossible to call.
Life-or-death moment.
As the demon's iron club crashed toward the monk's head, Su-hyeok unwittingly murmured "Amitabha."
He thought the monk done for.
Long story short: that gleaming bald pate—no qi infused—just raw muscle power—shattered the club instead.
Then the monk unleashed a headbutt finisher, caving the demon's face for the win.
Glory to the Iron Head Skill.
After that, Su-hyeok never doubted the human body's capacity to evolve beyond limits.
Later, he realized it was essential for ascending martial arts.
Heart, technique, body.
Lack any, and peak mastery eludes you.
Vast internal energy means nothing without a body to wield it or skills to express it—efficacy halves at best.
Like slapping a jet engine on a compact car: it won't fly.
Push too hard, it shatters.
Thus, orthodox martial arts fused heart, technique, body.
On the Huan Continent, fewer demons reached ascension for this reason. They chased quick demonic or evil internal arts for faster early growth than righteous warriors—but the backlash warped heart, technique, body, blocking higher realms.
Anyway, that's why the human body evolves.
Essential for digesting harsh heart and technique training.
So how?
Simple: treat it like steel.
Not literally smashing and breaking—humans aren't actual metal. Some Huan sects did that, rarely producing elites, but it didn't suit Su-hyeok.
'Rarely' screamed flawed methods. Most died or emerged crippled. He'd seen plenty.
That brutal sect welcomed all—no discrimination, no barriers.
Teach anyone eager for their savage arts.
Bonus: their casualty rate eventually branded them a demonic sect.
Point is: evolving the body demands training that butts against limits.
Naturally, wider limits mean greater pain endured.
And that's what he loved.
As said: pain brings proportional reward.
"Hoo, hoo."
Each sharp exhale stabbed like a knife deep into his lungs.
Long since he'd surpassed one limit, recovered stamina, and slammed into an even broader one.
All while ceaselessly driving his body amid those thoughts.
Strictly, he'd dragged his already-limit-spent body back out and shoved it to new limits.
Seemed like starting over, but the mental toll and compounded fatigue? Far deeper.
Reviewing studied material isn't effortless bliss.
Body recovers; mind remembers the agony.
Such extremes wrung Su-hyeok's flesh.
Grueling, yet his lips curved in a smile.
He could surpass it.
Craved collapse, but he'd never stop.
Ting-! System image conversion complete per consciousness. Another chime rang out then.
Not the news he'd awaited.
So Su-hyeok kept running.
His whole body weighed him down.
Like a massive bear slung over his shoulders.
Then full-body agony, as if shattering.
Beyond limits—danger signal.
Don't stop here, and it might backfire like those savage sects' training.
Yet Su-hyeok ran on.
Limbs tearing—numbness creeping—even as sweat blurred his vision from brow to eye.
'It's coming. Feels perfect.'
Not far now.
Intuition from countless trainings and breakthroughs told him so.
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