Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Acquiring Yin Essence and Yang Essence!
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‘Connect the two strands of Yin Essence.’
I drew out another strand of Yin Essence, stretched it long, and connected it to the one I'd infused into the Fire Dragon Sword, holding onto the end.
‘Alright! Let’s throw it!’
Swinging the Fire Dragon Sword with all my might, I unleashed the Yin Essence as if casting it out.
*Swoosh!*
The moment the Yin Essence was released from the Fire Dragon Sword, it transformed into an Azure-White Ice Flower and shot forward.
But within the Azure-White Ice Flower, I saw a long, red line.
‘Lightning!’
The Yin Essence had drawn out lightning. I was so thrilled I felt a shiver run down my spine.
*Cra-crack!*
The Azure-White Ice Flower, carrying the lightning, flew in a beautiful straight line and struck a rock.
*Clang!*
When I went closer, I saw the entire rock was frozen white, with a hole pierced through its center, from which acrid smoke billowed. The Azure-White Ice Flower had frozen the rock, and the lightning had pierced it.
‘Retrieve it.’
*Swoosh!*
The Azure-White Ice Flower and the lightning that had struck the rock were absorbed back into the Fire Dragon Sword, then drawn into my right arm.
‘Huh?’
But along with the Yin Essence, another energy was absorbed into my right arm.
‘It’s hot!’
Besides the cool sensation of the Azure-White Ice Flower, a fiery-hot energy poured into my right hand.
‘Damn! It’s the lightning!’
The lightning I had just unleashed was absorbed into my right arm during the retrieval process, along with the Azure-White Ice Flower.
I urgently tried to shake it off, but then a thought struck me.
I had succeeded in absorbing lightning from the Fire Dragon Sword into my body. Therefore, rather than casting it away, I should make it my own.
“Ugh!”
But my right arm was incredibly hot. If I left it like this, it felt like my arm would be burned to a crisp.
‘Mix them!’
I used the Yin Essence in my right arm to envelop the lightning’s hot energy.
The searing heat vanished as if washed away, leaving a gentle, persistent warmth in my arm, neither cold nor hot.
‘Now what?’
I hate deliberating for long. My past life was a continuous series of worries. From now on, I want to worry as little as possible.
‘Just leave it.’
A good method. To be honest, I don't even know where the Yin Essence is stored in my body.
I had never paid attention to what happened to the Azure-White Ice Flower after it was retrieved and converted back into Yin Essence.
That was mainly because I hadn't known it could be retrieved in the first place.
So now, because the retrieved Yin Essence contained lightning, I could feel what was happening to it.
Perhaps because it was carrying the lightning, the Yin Essence moved slowly.
‘My dantian?’
The final destination of the Yin Essence carrying the lightning was my dantian. I couldn't feel the movement of the Yin Essence itself, but I could feel the lightning moving, which is how I knew the Yin Essence had reached my dantian.
This was a gain I’d acquired by absorbing the lightning into my body.
The dantian was originally where internal energy was stored; the fact that Yin Essence was also there was both new and surprising.
The Yin Essence I had just absorbed held lightning, so I could feel it even after it was assimilated into the main body of Yin Essence.
I tried to calm my excitement.
‘Let’s absorb some more lightning.’
If I repeated the same method a few more times, I should be able to absorb a greater amount of lightning.
The Fire Dragon Sword had absorbed countless bolts of lightning over tens of thousands of years, so it must contain an immense amount.
Furthermore, lightning could be considered Extreme Yang Energy, purified over tens of thousands of years.
The purification of Extreme Yang Energy—in other words, Yang Essence.
I repeated the same process ten times, absorbing the lightning’s Yang Essence.
I couldn't measure the amount of Yin Essence in my dantian, but I could feel that the Yang Essence was now ten times greater than before.
The heat of the Yang Essence had weakened considerably into a gentle warmth, allowing me to sense the total amount absorbed within my body.
‘Alright! The final test for today!’
Everything had gone smoothly so far. The final test was to draw out the Yang Essence and create lightning to unleash.
‘If it works for Yin Essence, it’ll work for Yang Essence!’
Standing up, I extended my right hand, palm facing up, and drew out the Yang Essence.
I split off half the Yang Essence I had gathered from swinging the Fire Dragon Sword ten times and pulled it out, but I was scared out of my wits.
“Whoa!”
The moment the Yang Essence separated from the Yin Essence, it became so incredibly hot that I hastily sent it back.
This time, I enveloped the detached Yang Essence with a small amount of Yin Essence and carefully drew it out.
‘It worked!’
A disc the size of a plate floated above my palm. Inside a thin, azure-white membrane, a red energy roiled like boiling water.
It was the first time I had seen lightning—that is, Yang Essence—in a stationary state. It looked like the molten lava I had only ever heard about.
I pulled my right arm back and then threw it, holding onto the strand of Yin Essence.
The brief moment the Yang Essence passed through my arm and out of my right hand was hot, but bearable.
*Whoosh!*
A thin, crimson pillar of fire shot out in a straight line and struck a rock.
*Thud!*
I went closer to examine it. A hole the size of a thumbnail was pierced through the rock, with hazy smoke rising from it.
The Yang Essence had completely pierced through the two-foot-thick rock. For something thrown by hand, this level of power was a great success.
After practicing the same technique about ten more times, I started heading back to the Dong-ro Branch, just as the eastern sky was beginning to brighten.
***
In the backyard of the Dong-ro Branch, Sang Gang-jo was standing, and he saw me walking from the direction of the river.
“Where have you been?”
It seemed he had been waiting for me.
“I was by the river, pondering a few things.”
Sang Gang-jo isn't the type to pry. That’s not to say he isn’t interested in me.
On the contrary, he holds a great deal of interest in me, but he tends not to ask questions unless I bring something up first. As a result, he, a man already prone to deep thought, had even more to think about because of me.
We walked inside side by side.
“Did you not go to the Ziyun Pavilion?”
“I slept in the annex with Captain Mae.”
“Did you wake up early?”
“I couldn't sleep well.”
“You seem to have a lot on your mind.”
“Hah! It can’t be helped.”
The reason Sang Gang-jo and So Yang-gun didn't go to their lodging at the Ziyun Pavilion was likely because of me.
So Yang-gun had to resolve the crucial matter of relocating the Hangzhou Branch or the Main Headquarters to the Dong-ro Branch.
And for Sang Gang-jo, the most important thing would be deciding his own course of action.
In other words, whether to leave or stay. He had to report the results of his mission to the Alliance Lord.
Sang Gang-jo let out a sigh. He had tried to tell me what his grave mission was several times, but since I had refused to hear it each time, he no longer brought it up.
When we reached the annex, Sang Gang-jo spoke.
“Please rest.”
“Aren’t you going to rest?”
“I have things to think about.”
I had a feeling I knew what he was planning to do.
“Are you planning to leave?”
Sang Gang-jo showed a hint of surprise.
“How did you know?”
“Just a guess.”
Sang Gang-jo hesitated before speaking.
“I have something to say to you.”
As we walked toward the annex, Go Un-hyo was standing at the entrance. He bowed upon seeing me.
“You haven’t slept?”
“I woke up early, sir.”
He had probably waited for me all night, yet he claimed he had just woken up early.
“Come in.”
We sat facing each other in the annex’s lounge.
Sang Gang-jo asked abruptly.
“What are your thoughts on momentum?”
“Isn’t it something difficult to go against?”
“These days, there are two major currents of momentum in the martial world. Are you aware of them?”
“What are they?”
“You, Grand Branch Master, and the Dong-ro Branch.”
“Is that so?”
Sang Gang-jo calmly explained.
“The news of you defeating the Snow Cloud Ice Venerable yesterday, and even the rumors of you killing ten elite masters from the Demonic Emperor's Life-Reaping Squad, are spreading rapidly. As a result, Dong-ro Prefecture is being compared to the eye of an even more powerful storm.”
“Hmm!”
“In the martial world, where talk and rumors are rampant, even a simple fight between two people spreads like wildfire and gets exaggerated. But for you, Grand Branch Master, who was completely unknown until now, to create so many upheavals from a rural corner like Dong-ro Prefecture, it’s only natural that the martial world is in an uproar.”
In the martial world, rumors are prone to exaggeration, where a story about a puppy becomes a tale of a tiger after passing through just a few mouths.
However, the truth about me was so incredible that the opposite phenomenon was occurring—the rumors were being downplayed as they spread, because people couldn't properly convey the reality.
Sang Gang-jo, as if he had made up his mind, was speaking at length. How much must he have thought about all this?
“Renowned masters from all over the world, and even reclusive experts, are coming out of seclusion and gathering in Dong-ro Prefecture.”
That was welcome news. But for some reason, Sang Gang-jo wore a bitter expression as he said this.
“Since you defeated two of the Fifteen Venerables of the Martial World, individuals who consider themselves even more skilled will likely flock here.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for.”
Sang Gang-jo looked at me directly.
“The other is the fact that the Dong-ro Branch is already riding a tiger.”
The momentum of riding a tiger—meaning a task once started has grown so large it cannot be stopped.
“At the current rate, the Dong-ro Branch could be developed into an organization larger and more powerful than the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union's main sect or the Ten Heavens of the Unorthodox Path's main headquarters.”
I had a good idea of what Sang Gang-jo was trying to say.
“If you get off a tiger’s back while it’s running at full speed, you’ll get hurt. There are no exceptions. That is precisely the situation now. Moreover, the tiger will run faster and faster, to a point where even it cannot control itself.”
Sang Gang-jo wasn't threatening me about getting off the tiger's back; he wasn't that kind of person.
If I were to leave the Dong-ro Branch in the current situation, the entire martial world would point their fingers at me.
The Demonic Emperor's Grand Union and the Ten Heavens of the Unorthodox Path would clap their hands, rejoice, and mock me, while the Martial Alliance and other orthodox factions would undoubtedly condemn me as irresponsible.
Because if I left, the Dong-ro Branch would be nothing but an empty shell.
After all, I was the one who had built the Dong-ro Branch to this point and enabled its continued growth. And I was at the center of it all.
Sang Gang-jo’s voice grew more serious than ever before.
“It is now time for you to decide.”
Jang Ung provides me with information, but Sang Gang-jo is the only person I can discuss things with openly.
“Whether I’ll stay at the Dong-ro Branch or leave, you mean?”
I casually tested the waters.
“It’s already too late for that.”
“Then what is it I must decide?”
I asked, already knowing the answer.
Sang Gang-jo stared at me for a moment before speaking in a low voice.
“You must decide when to convert the Dong-ro Branch into the Main Headquarters of the Martial Alliance.”
“That is…”
“That is a separate matter from your marriage to the Alliance Lord, so please do not confuse the two.”
“Hmm!”
“I believe the marriage between you and the Alliance Lord is entirely up to the two of you. It is not a matter for a third party to interfere in.”
I had wanted to say that myself, but Sang Gang-jo hit the nail on the head and resolved it in one stroke.
I'm not the type to be needlessly stubborn or prideful.
“Is there no other way?”
“Unless you can turn back time to before you came to the Dong-ro Branch, there is no other way.”
“Hmm!”
Sang Gang-jo had laid it out cleanly. Since I couldn't turn back time, I had to take responsibility.
“Are you aware that even as we speak, the Main Headquarters of the Martial Alliance is drifting aimlessly like duckweed?”
“I’ve heard.”
“The situation is far more serious than you can imagine.”
Sang Gang-jo’s expression became grim.
“They call it the Main Headquarters, but the Alliance Lord's inner circle and elite masters have scattered into separate groups, hiding and protecting her from the shadows. If the Alliance Lord’s location were to be exposed in this situation, it would be the end.”
“I suppose so.”
“If something were to happen to the Alliance Lord, the Martial Alliance would soon disintegrate. And if that happens, the martial world will become a world of demons, led by the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union and the Ten Heavens of the Unorthodox Path.”
Whether the world became a playground for demons or not was none of my business.
This was the first time Sang Gang-jo had explained things in such detail. It showed just how desperate he was.