Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Disciple of the Martial God
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The Martial God's transcendence realm had shattered amid a tremendous torrent of power, but it had already returned to its original form.
In the first place, even that shattering was something the Martial God had deliberately caused by lowering his own realm.
After Shin-hyeok's trial came to an end.
The Martial God had immediately restored his realm, and his transcendence realm had promptly followed suit.
Of course, that was separate from how his transcendence realm was restored and the rags that his clothes had become instantly reverted to their pristine state—Shin-hyeok was still sprawled out on the ground.
It couldn't be helped.
He had already used a potion once, so he couldn't chug another right away, not with the side effects.
In the end, he lay flat on the ground for a moment, waiting for the Martial God to tally up the rewards.
"For now, let me refine your body first. Sit."
"...I'm about to die here."
"You can't call yourself a martial artist if you can't endure pain like that. Sit."
"...Yes."
Even twitching a single finger sent waves of soul-searing agony ripping through him, but the Martial God didn't care one bit.
Grinding his teeth to hold back the torment, Shin-hyeok barely managed to sit cross-legged.
Cold sweat poured down like rain, and his jaw clenched so hard one of his teeth cracked with a sharp crack, but the Martial God calmly circled behind him and placed a hand on his back.
"Your body is sturdy enough, but without systematic training from childhood, impurities have been gnawing away at it. Putting on that kind of show with a body like this is impressive in itself. Still, you can't keep living in a shell that's been corroded by filth forever. Let's start light with some marrow cleansing."
"...!"
Marrow cleansing.
Shin-hyeok knew it well—he'd received something like it before his regression.
An extremely precise process to expel the impurities filling the entire body, usually performed in childhood.
That was because the younger the body, the fewer impurities it held, raising the success rate.
Even so, the failure rate was still high, and finding a martial artist skilled enough to perform it was no easy task.
Naturally, the older you got, the weaker the effects became, the success rate plummeted, and the required realm of the practitioner skyrocketed exponentially.
Even in the higher dimensions of the murim world and the Heavenly Demon Divine Church, it was exceedingly rare for a full-grown adult to undergo marrow cleansing.
So the fact that he was receiving it directly from none other than the Martial God himself left Shin-hyeok stunned.
'I'm getting a luxury I never even dreamed of before regression.'
Before his regression, Shin-hyeok had tried something similar.
They called it a mana shower—diving into a high-density mana zone and running your heart method like mad to wash away the impurities.
But it was inefficient, took forever, and cost a fortune.
In the end, he'd just substituted it by wolfing down spiritual medicines.
He'd had Hyo-rin back then, so supply wasn't an issue.
And now, right after regressing.
Shin-hyeok was about to receive the Martial God's marrow cleansing—something even his pre-regression self had never experienced.
"It's going to hurt."
"Wai—"
"...!!!"
But damn, did it hurt.
A lot.
Like tossing his entire mana circuits into a blender—not even that would hurt this bad.
Clinging desperately to his fraying sanity, Shin-hyeok pushed his Trait: Mana Circuit and Skill: Tai Chi Divine Art [A] to their limits.
Kiiiiing!
The Martial God's pure inner energy came crashing in like a flood.
As this superior stat to mana ravaged his circuits and tore away the clinging impurities, trace amounts of inner energy were produced in the process—he couldn't afford to waste even a speck.
Forgetting all sense of time, focused solely on survival through qi circulation, Shin-hyeok felt his Baihui acupoint burst open and snapped his eyes wide.
Mana had risen.
On top of that, removing the impurities boosted his energy efficiency.
It was no different from strengthening his Mana Circuit even further.
But the Martial God's gifts didn't end there.
"Your physical body is ordinary too. You'll need shedding mortality. Let's continue right away."
A new physique.
Shin-hyeok currently had two physiques.
One was the Absorbing Demon Body, which absorbed demonic qi and naturally used it to reinforce the flesh.
The other was the Flame Extreme Body, befitting a blacksmith, granting powerful flame resistance and affinity.
Both were outstanding physiques, but neither had much to do with martial arts.
The Martial God zeroed in on that and initiated shedding mortality as well.
Fundamentally, shedding mortality was when an exceptional martial artist amassed vast energy and used it as a foundation to remodel their body.
It wasn't something you could achieve just by kneading flesh like dough—but
Wooooodrrrr!
"...Kuh!"
that didn't apply to the Martial God.
If even the Heavenly Demon could do it, there was no reason the Martial God couldn't.
If the marrow cleansing from moments ago had ground his meridians to dust, this forced shedding mortality outright pulverized his physical body itself.
It was unavoidable.
Shin-hyeok had no innate physique to begin with.
To craft something impressive enough for the Martial God's eyes, there was no choice but to demolish the existing one and remake it from scratch.
Naturally, an agony incomparable to before raged through him, but Shin-hyeok endured.
"Thanks to you comprehending Heaven Shattering Destruction Style Chapter 1, Section 3 on your own, I've got plenty of karma left. I can refine you a Unique-grade physique."
'...A Unique-grade martial arts physique! I'd endure death for this...!'
Because of the tidbit the Martial God had let slip.
A Unique-grade martial arts-related physique.
There were clear hierarchies even among Unique-grades.
In that sense, for Shin-hyeok—who wielded the Choi Shin-hyeok Style, Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and Heaven Shattering Destruction Style—a martial arts-related Unique physique synergized better than most Legendary ones.
No way he was giving that up, so he clenched his teeth and weathered the shedding mortality.
And when the pain finally lifted.
"Keuh...."
Sweet rewards awaited Shin-hyeok.
Unique-grade physique: Martial Bone.
The effects were simple.
Corrections to all martial arts, plus rapid proficiency gains.
Considering the value of his Choi Shin-hyeok Style, Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and Heaven Shattering Destruction Style, even marginal boosts and proficiency gains meant massive profits—enough to make him forget the prior agony entirely.
But the rewards didn't stop there.
"I'll formally take you as my disciple. Strive harder from here and aim to surpass even that."
The temporary label on his Disciple of the Martial God (Temporary) title was finally gone.
The old title had been plenty good, but it paled next to this one.
He could wield nearly all martial arts to near-perfection.
That applied to any martial art he learned, effectively giving Shin-hyeok wings.
On top of that, massive proficiency boosts for all martial arts.
With this alone, picking up new ones in the future would be a breeze.
And lastly, being able to keenly discern all martial arts was straightforward.
'Countering the opponent's techniques will be even easier.'
Martial arts counters.
It meant dismantling whatever attacks the enemy threw would come more naturally.
Each reward was a game-changer on its own, so Shin-hyeok staggered to his feet and offered a deep bow of gratitude.
"I will shine even brighter on Cheok No-sa's honor."
"Good. Ideally brighter than that Heavenly Demon bastard."
"...I'll give it my best."
Even after dumping all these massive rewards, the Martial God chuckled heartily, carrying on his invisible feud with the Heavenly Demon.
Of course, as someone who'd mastered the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and was a Little Heavenly Demon candidate to boot, Shin-hyeok couldn't fully side with him on that.
The Martial God knew it well enough not to press.
"Sparring with you was enjoyable. Nothing beats experiencing a promising junior's growth firsthand. I'd love to see even more next time."
"Yes."
Every endeavor has a beginning—and an end.
With the duel over and rewards claimed, Shin-hyeok bid the Martial God farewell and departed the transcendence realm.
What greeted Shin-hyeok upon exiting the Martial God's transcendence realm wasn't the national team seniors waiting for him—
"...Huh? What happened here?"
—but the arena, engulfed in flames.
A closer look revealed buildings diced into neat cubes by slashes.
Obviously not its usual state, Shin-hyeok scanned around and lit up when he spotted Moo Jeong-geom and Chang-su, waving happily.
"Senior! I'm back."
"...You just got back from meeting the constellation?"
"Yeah, a ton happened. But seriously, what's all this? Taereung's a total wreck."
Chang-su responded to the greeting with his usual blank expression.
Shin-hyeok's face turned wistful for a moment as he recalled the duel with the Martial God.
Then he asked about the trashed Taereung.
In response to Shin-hyeok's question, Chang-su gave him a look of utter disbelief.
"It's your fault."
"...Pardon?"
He'd just returned from meeting the Martial God, only to hear this mess was his doing—Shin-hyeok was flustered, but the explanation that followed left him nodding in acceptance.
"After you left to audience the constellation, the Flame King and Sword King duked it out over your duel rights. This is the aftermath."
"Aha."
The catastrophe sparked by his offhand remark before leaving—"You two settle it."
Realizing it really was his fault, Shin-hyeok nodded deeply.
"So who won?"
"Well—"
"I did. You damn brat of a nephew."
The duel between the Flame King and Sword King.
The victor of that clash over Shin-hyeok's duel rights appeared before Chang-su could even answer: In-ho.
In-ho was in a completely different state from what Shin-hyeok had seen before heading off to meet the Martial God.
His custom high-end suit was shredded to rags in places, his slicked-back hair a wild mess.
Pale-faced from heavy mana drain was just icing on the cake.
At a glance, he looked far from pristine, and Shin-hyeok's heart eased a bit.
"You look pretty beat up."
"Thanks to you. Haven't scrapped with that sword-swinging bastard in ages. Well, a guy just flailing a blade can't take down a mage seeking truth."
"I see."
He brushed back his tousled hair, feigning nonchalance.
The fight with Ho-seong had clearly taken its toll—In-ho was weakened.
And Shin-hyeok didn't miss it.
"Then let's throw down right now?"
"...What?"
"I'm not at full strength either after the Martial God's trial, so it's fair, right?"
"No, that's..."
Shin-hyeok was worn out too, but the marrow cleansing and shedding mortality had restored him somewhat.
In-ho, on the other hand, hadn't recovered from his duel with Ho-seong.
Especially as a mage and spirit arts user, he couldn't fight properly without mana.
But Shin-hyeok was a martial artist.
He was used to battling with whatever qi he had left.
So while In-ho looked reluctant to duel, trying to back out—
"You wouldn't be chickening out, would you?"
"...Get your ass to the arena. Now."
—the moment Shin-hyeok smirked and uttered those magic words, In-ho couldn't retreat.
Chicken?
That one word was a devilish curse no three-year-old or eighty-year-old could escape.
With In-ho neatly baited by the provocation, Shin-hyeok followed him onto the arena platform without hiding his glee one bit.