Chapter 13
Chapter 13
13.
There was an unbearable stench.
The Golden Turtle Wandering Skill I was practicing was a martial art created by a master named Gi Seong-ja, and it was originally a bizarre martial art that started from a method of training fighting chickens.
Gi Seong-ja was a highly skilled master, but like the wise men of old, he was not the type to show off his skills while wandering the Martial World.
Usually, masters of the Taoist lineage did not learn martial arts to harm others, but to seek their own immortality. In any case, Gi Seong-ja was a master who was not intimidated even in front of King Seon of the Zhou Dynasty, but few of his successors properly mastered the Golden Turtle Wandering Skill he left behind.
This is because it is extremely difficult to achieve greatness.
Because the ultimate goal of the Golden Turtle Wandering Skill is immortality.
In Ganghoin's narrow-minded view, it is the realm of Invulnerability to Swords and Blades. In other words, the meaning of the martial art is that a turtle that has achieved Invulnerability to Swords and Blades wanders the world at will.
This Golden Turtle Wandering Skill consists of five stages in total.
Wooden Chicken.
Blazing Chicken.
Fighting Chicken.
Transcendent Chicken.
Steel Turtle.
Each stage has a Secret Technique, and in detail, there are palm techniques and sword techniques. Since I had not lost my memory, I only needed to focus on the Inner energy cultivation method, which is divided by Inner energy level.
I was embarrassed when I first learned about this classification.
Why does a chicken, upon attaining enlightenment, transcend its own limitations and become a Steel Turtle...?
Gi Seong-ja's original hobby was making fighting chickens, and he probably thought that Martial World people and fighting chickens were similar.
Just like I think of Ganghoin as a crazy monkey.
Anyway, whether it's a crazy monkey or a fighting chicken, it's all the same to me, so I liked this classification.
The Wooden Chicken stage focuses on cultivating an unwavering mind, so I actively used it to resolve my Juhwa-ibma.
From the second stage, the Blazing Chicken, Inner energy is injected, and whether it's a hand or a Weaponry, it becomes engulfed in heat.
This is because the Golden Turtle Wandering Skill is originally a martial art based on extremely Yang Inner energy.
In fact, I started to gain notoriety from the time I broke through the Blazing Chicken stage, and when I reached the Fighting Chicken stage, I gained skills worthy of being called a master.
To be precise about my skills, my personal Martial World history is that I broke through the Transcendent Chicken stage but failed to conquer the Steel Turtle stage, and then I caused a ruckus in the Martial World before returning to the past.
The Transcendent Chicken stage is a realm where breathing is free, wandering is unrestrained, and fighting is not according to the rules, but by freely transforming the rules.
I have always strived to reach the final stage, the Steel Turtle. However, just as it doesn't make sense for swords and spears not to pierce a normal human body, reaching the Steel Turtle stage was a truly difficult and tedious process.
But this time it's different.
It was just a premonition, but the feeling was very good.
I had only repeated the Microcosmic Orbit of the first stage a dozen times in the small room, but the level of the Wooden Chicken was rising surprisingly quickly.
If I had enough time, I had the momentum and speed to enter the Blazing Chicken stage soon.
I was holed up in the small room, ruthlessly repeating the Microcosmic Orbit, and then I opened my eyes.
It was dawn again before I knew it.
The Purple Glow Inn area felt truly quiet.
When true energy starts circulating throughout the blood vessels, the five senses become more developed. Relying on my five senses, I checked whether there were any signs of people around, or any sounds of breathing, and then entered a semi-sleep state to rest.
Since there were still enemies left here, I had no intention of sleeping comfortably for the time being.
With my eyes closed in a semi-sleep state, the strong people from my past life kept coming to mind randomly.
Even the strong people who were active before I became strong...
I felt the corners of my lips rise involuntarily as I thought of them.
I was going to help those who had shown me even a little kindness, and mercilessly trample on my clear enemies.
To do that, I had no choice but to skip meals, endure bowel movements, and do boring meditation like I was doing now.
In fact, Inner energy only blooms in the time of patience, enduring bowel movements day after day.
The analogy is strange, but it's actually true.
I woke up at noon after resting in a semi-sleep state, and immediately felt hungry.
Cha Seong-tae had cleaned up the snacks I bought yesterday night.
Perhaps because of the empty stomach, I suddenly thought of the Chunyang Rice Soup at my regular restaurant, Chunyang Restaurant.
'I should have a bowl of rice soup.'
Suddenly, I searched inside Cha Seong-tae's robe and found a heavy money pouch. Judging from the unfamiliar shape of the money pouch, it was clearly not mine, but Cha Seong-tae's.
'Lucky me.'
I roughly removed the sleep from my eyes, washed my face, and headed to Chunyang Restaurant, looking around the neighborhood with a fresh perspective.
Despite the fact that Jo Ilseom and Jo Igyeol had ascended to heaven last night, Ilyang Prefecture was quiet and peaceful as if nothing had happened.
However, the rumor that I had killed Jo Ilseom had spread like wildfire last night, so the townspeople were widening their eyes as if they had seen a ghost whenever I appeared. No one offered a normal greeting, and everyone just kept their mouths shut.
When I entered Chunyang Restaurant, the owner, Jang Deuk-su, was also startled when he saw me.
"Oh, you're here?"
"Deuk-su hyung, rice soup."
"Ah, okay. Sit over there."
Soon, a huge bowl of rice soup with an enormous amount of ingredients came out. This rice soup, made with miscellaneous offal, thinly sliced vegetables, and spicy seasoning, was simply called Chunyang Rice Soup.
I hadn't eaten this kind of rice soup since I left Ilyang Prefecture.
This was because it was not a dish from the Central Plains, but a dish that was enjoyed in the Baiyue region where the Yue people lived, simply mixing rice with noodles.
Not to be pathetic, but I almost shed tears while eating the rice soup that I could only eat at Chunyang Restaurant in Ilyang Prefecture.
Since Jang Deuk-su was watching, I said this.
"Is it a bit spicy today? My eyes are sweating."
"Oh, really? I put a lot of seasoning in it. Was it too much?"
"It's perfect."
Jang Deuk-su grinned.
It was definitely spicier, warmer, and more delicious than I remembered.
While I was filling my stomach with rice soup, Jang Deuk-su asked in a whisper.
"...But I heard you killed the Cho Family guy? Is it true?"
"I killed him."
Jang Deuk-su said as if he couldn't believe it.
"How the hell did you kill him? Jo Ilseom was the strongest here, though."
"How else would I kill him? The weak guy died while waving a sword around."
Jang Deuk-su and I chuckled.
"What about Jo Igyeol?"
"That guy came to the inn to kill me, but he went into the grave that I had my subordinates dig for him."
"That bastard, he went around killing people at night, serves him right. Serves him right. I'll definitely contact you when Jo Sam-pyeong comes back. I'll have to tell the other store owners in advance. Those bastards are doing human trafficking in this peaceful neighborhood. Good kill. Want more rice?"
"No thanks."
When I took out the rice soup money from Cha Seong-tae's money pouch and put it down, a look of bewilderment crossed Jang Deuk-su's face.
"What's this? You always eat for free."
"When did I always eat for free? I paid sometimes."
"Weren't we supposed to settle it with Chicken Head Noodles?"
I then remembered the old days and grinned.
"Ah, you said it was too bad to eat. Then you have to pay with money."
"Hey, you've really changed. Okay. Take care."
After eating the rice soup, I took a walk around Ilyang Prefecture as if patrolling. It was a walk to check on the safety of the townspeople and to check if there were any variables that would interfere with my personal training.
I thought that there would be no major problems until Jo Sam-pyeong came. Everyone thought that if the Cho Family guys formed a faction, they would regularly extort tribute this time, so I confirmed through Jang Deuk-su that everyone was welcoming their deaths.
Therefore, I holed myself up in the small room of the Purple Glow Inn again and devoted myself to the Golden Turtle Wandering Skill.
I also considered finding a quiet mountain and going into seclusion for a while, but considering the variables, this shabby Purple Glow Inn was actually safer.
I devoted myself to the Inner energy cultivation method all day to build up Inner energy, fell into a semi-sleep state, and occasionally went to Chunyang Restaurant to eat rice soup for every meal when I was hungry.
Build up Inner energy, eat, and poop.
The path to becoming a master is this difficult.
How can a normal human not go crazy?
Occasionally, when I felt that my waist and legs were too stiff from meditation, I took a walk and carefully examined every corner of Ilyang Prefecture.
In this way, I focused solely on training, suppressing my emotions like a 'Wooden Chicken'.
In the meantime, Inner energy accumulated steadily and quickly.
Compared to the past, the speed at which Inner energy was accumulating was so fast that it was even confusing.
It had already been over twenty days since I had holed myself up in the Purple Glow Inn.
Although my body was somewhat tired due to continuous semi-sleep, I completely conquered the Wooden Chicken and then entered the Blazing Chicken stage.
It was truly a miraculous speed.
Of course, I had trained harshly in my past life, so my achievements were bound to be fast.
However, in the process of training, the state of the small room I was staying in had become as dirty as a beggar's den.
This was due to the waste products from my body that were poured out in the process of entering from the Wooden Chicken to the Blazing Chicken.
Sure enough, the stench of hell was wafting from the small room.
But this unbearable stench was a great reward for me.
That's because my body had become so clean.
As I went through the stages, my body became as clear as clean water, so I wouldn't have to experience this stench again.
When I checked again, my skin was glowing, my hair was softer than before, and above all, my eyes were clear and my eyesight was much better.
As I broke through the stages, the level of my five senses also increased.
Unlike Inner energy or external martial arts, the five senses are closely related to situational judgment and survival, so it was necessary to raise their level in order to survive in the harsh Martial World.
When I clenched my fist and infused it with Inner energy, my spine tingled.
'I've become much stronger than expected.'
I used to think that the Golden Turtle Wandering Skill was just a good martial art for treating Juhwa-ibma, but now I think differently.
'I think I'll become much stronger than before.'
Certainly, Ganghoin feels more satisfied with the rapid achievement of martial arts than with any other joy.
I was even having stupid worries about what would happen if I became a god.
At this time, Cha Seong-tae's voice was heard from outside.
"Ugh! What is this smell? It stinks. Ugh..."
When I came out of the small room, Cha Seong-tae stepped back with a look of shock as if he was about to faint.
"Did you poop? Ugh..."
Cha Seong-tae covered his mouth with his hand as if he was about to throw up, and then ran out of the Purple Glow Inn.
"That bastard, really. Wow..."
I was speechless for a moment.
Looking at Cha Seong-tae, who was retching outside the inn, I thought this.
I should live this life for the sake of tormenting that guy.
At that moment, Cha Seong-tae vomited with a "Uek" sound.
"..."
Feeling the emotion of murderous intent welling up from deep within, I went outside.