Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: How to Accumulate Internal Energy Like Eating Candy - 6
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If it was a secret realm accessible only to Crimson Star Sect disciples, then this secret realm had to be related to the Crimson Star Sect as well.
Otherwise, from the moment they entered, they wouldn't feel this serene amid the grand challenge of conquering the secret realm.
And it seemed the others felt exactly the same.
"Senior Sister. This is..."
"Umm..."
Even Hongryeon, who had challenged secret realms several times before, was experiencing this sensation for the first time.
It was as if the secret realm itself was reacting to those who had cultivated the Crimson Star Divine Art.
Naturally, the internal energy of the Crimson Star Divine Art within their dantians began to circulate. But not in wary response to danger—rather, in anticipation of something that would foster their growth.
"Let's proceed for now."
Even so, they couldn't afford to lower their guard. A secret realm was a trial ground crafted by ancient ancestors—a testing arena prepared for mortals who must always gaze skyward with heads held high.
Thus, every single step was bound to fill them with tension.
And then.
In the first room they entered, they couldn't help letting out involuntary groans.
"This is..."
It was a vast chamber. The floor was swallowed by an endless black void, and the only path across was a series of precarious platforms hovering in midair, twinkling like stars in the night sky.
The instant they glimpsed the positions of those "stars," all three realized it at once.
This was footwork.
And not just any footwork—it was one they knew well.
The Crimson Star Divine Art was the art of the red star, the baleful star that consumed itself in flames.
The baleful star was fierce and mighty, wielding the power to shatter all in its path, yet it also possessed a speed nothing could impede.
The footwork that captured that velocity was none other than the Star Flow Step, one of the Crimson Star Divine Art's signature movement techniques.
It embodied the dance of the stars, honed through the sect's daily horse stances and grueling mountain treks, executed on legs forged unbreakable.
Platforms existed only in positions reachable by those who had mastered that step.
In short, the Star Flow Step was required to pass.
"Is this really a secret realm meant for the Crimson Star Sect?"
Ryuhyeon muttered in a trembling voice, disbelief dripping from every word. Knowing it wasn't truly a question, Hongryeon could only nod.
The truth was staring them in the face, plain as day.
"Could we make it across with just plain jumps?"
"Not impossible. But there are obstacles."
Ryuhyeon flicked a small hidden weapon from her sleeve into the air.
Clang. A metallic clash echoed as the projectile streaking through empty space vanished into the darkness. In that moment, a faintly shimmering iron plate of eerie hue flickered into view, wobbling briefly before seamlessly blending back into the void when its tremor ceased.
"Use any footwork or lightness skill besides the Star Flow Step, and you'll smash right into those plates."
And in the worst case, plummet into the abyss below.
Of course, with ascending lightness arts or body-protecting energy, one could ignore the hindrances entirely.
Hongryeon glanced at Sayoon at Ryuhyeon's words.
"Think you can manage?"
"Yes."
"Good. I'll lead. You next, Sayoon. Ryuhyeon last."
"Understood, Senior Sister."
Hongryeon issued crisp orders and took her first step.
Qian. The Star Flow Step mimicked stars streaking across the heavens, so it began from the celestial trigram.
Gliding forward, she landed on Zhen. The baleful star struck like thunder, brimming with unstoppable momentum.
Completing the Star Flow Step across the Eight Trigrams, Hongryeon reached the far side without interference.
"Sayoon. Over."
"Yes!"
Sayoon nodded sharply and moved. Her footwork, though not as polished as Hongryeon's, lacked nothing essential. Once she crossed, followed by Ryuhyeon, the sealed door groaned open.
Hongryeon stared at it, swallowing hard.
"The next rooms might test the Crimson Star Divine Art too."
"Uh... then what about me, Senior Sister?"
Sayoon fretted that her grasp of only the first half might drag them down. Hongryeon flashed a grin.
It was the steadfast smile her juniors knew and trusted.
As Hongryeon foresaw—and Sayoon and Ryuhyeon suspected—most of the secret realm revolved around the Crimson Star Divine Art. Footwork, staff arts, fist techniques, culminating in swordplay.
The silver lining: it rigorously tested only the fundamentals.
This felt less a brutal gauntlet and more a dedicated training hall.
"Should've brought the others."
Sword scars identical to those etched in the walls.
Hongryeon, who had replicated them perfectly with the Crimson Flower Sword from the art's first half, muttered wryly as the door rumbled open.
"Senior Sister, ever seen a secret realm like this?"
"Something similar, yeah."
Not one fixated on a single art, of course. But she'd encountered a few that gauged martial proficiency and mastery.
"And those always ended with..."
-Kieeeek...!!
A guttural horror erupted beyond the door. Sayoon's shoulders tensed; Ryuhyeon gripped her hilt. Hongryeon strode forward calmly.
"...enemies."
Demonic beasts, the secret realm's guardians.
Slaying the realm's "lord" conquered it.
Ryuhyeon nodded and advanced. Hongryeon at the rear, Sayoon—least proficient—in the middle.
Formation set, tension unbroken, they entered the final chamber. There it loomed.
-Kieeeek!!
Four arms.
A brawny frame.
On its hideously contorted face gleamed saw-edged fangs.
A long tongue lolled, drooling thick saliva like clotting blood.
Slitted reptilian eyes blazed malice vertically, marking the intruders as prey.
-Kiiik!!
Hongryeon knew the thing rising with that ear-splitting screech.
Evil Yak.
Most common—and viciously infamous—among secret realm bound horrors. A man-eater.
Its lingering presence struck her as realistic, not surreal.
The prior trials had been the truly otherworldly ones.
"Here we go."
Toward the Evil Yak appraising them hungrily, click—Ryuhyeon leveled her blade. Crimson Star Divine Art energy, anathema to yaks, surged through her veins, sheathing her sword in blood-red aura.
Hongryeon stayed put, arms folded, weighing reality against illusion.
"Senior Sister?"
"Ryuhyeon. Back."
"Huh?!"
"Sayoon."
"...Yes, Senior Sister."
"Can you handle it solo?"
"Senior Sister?!"
Ryuhyeon recoiled. Sure, Evil Yaks were "common" fodder, but beasts were beasts.
Those beefy arms would snap bones; talon claws rend flesh.
Deadly.
Why lone-charge the kid against it—even wounded and ragged?
Hongryeon's eyes were dead serious.
"Take it down alone, and you'll grow leaps. Besides..."
"...I'll do it."
Ryuhyeon moved to protest, but Sayoon surged ahead. Wooden sword in hand. Ryuhyeon hurled her real blade—at least that—and Sayoon snatched it midair, flashing a sulky smile.
"Thanks."
"Ugh... Careful! Bail if it's too hot!"
Knowing backup watched her back eased the knot in her gut.
Life-or-death duel.
Beast fights were raw predation, lives on the line.
Any slack in nerves bolstered survival odds.
Ryuhyeon eyed Sayoon's steady advance, then shot Hongryeon a glare.
"Why her..."
"Watch."
No trace of Hongryeon's usual levity—just unyielding frost no one dared defy.
-Kyaak!!
I can do this.
Sayoon flattened to evade head-seeking claws, thrusting fiercely. Not her first real sword, but first lunge at the living.
Or... was it alive? Pus-black ichor oozing from wounds ignored, it lunged undeterred. A monster?
Eyes brimming pure hate and malice—truly "alive"?
Her mind whirled, feet flowed instinctively. Tension? Minimal.
The seniors behind?
No.
Shed felt worse before.
Or sans the burden of guarding others, lighter load.
Irrelevant.
Duty unchanged.
-Kyaak!!
Sayoon's dodges, gap-thrusts, leg-trips, flank-fists irked the Evil Yak.
Its head snapped up, murder in its gaze.
Yet fear? None.
Tension? Vanished.
Sayoon jerked her head aside. Gray strands whipped skyward—no hit. Exploiting it, she pierced the yak's armpit.
-Splash!!
Fluid strike landed hard; greed unabated. Downward arc half-severs an arm—it flops free.
Kick the limb into the yak for stagger, press the breach—one more step.
Her petite form darted like night-sky stars.
Tiny.
One smack from instant death.
That it bore fangs so lethal? Utter humiliation.
Yet no evasion. Incoming arms—
-Serrrk!!
-Kieeeek!!
Sliced clean.
Blood Wind—one of the Crimson Star Divine Art's forms—victory.
Sayoon's level couldn't bisect yak hide and bone outright.
But relentless targeting had softened the flesh.
What mattered now?
One truth.
Arm gone.
Vast opening hers.
Sayoon closed fast.
The girl lately dismissed as plaything-to-shred forced the Evil Yak back a pace.
Momentum crushed.
-Ke...
No hesitation left.
Sayoon twirled her grip, lunged—a star-streak sword-tip impaled the heart.
"Hah... Hah..."
Only as the Evil Yak crumpled did Sayoon heave for air.
First half Crimson Star Divine Art alone—refined here—felled it.
She stared numbly at the heap, retreating warily. Sword poised for revival that never came.
Then she turned.
Ryuhyeon, beaming and clapping.
Hongryeon, faith rewarded.
But her gaze pierced further.
Not beside them, yet cherished deeper for the distance—a presence woven in.
'...Thank you, Mister.'
As if he'd guided her here for growth, she offered silent gratitude to her unseen patron.
Letter first thing back home, she vowed.