Fusion
I closed my eyes and let my gaze drift naturally toward the ceiling of the Repentance Cave, toward the upper section of the Vision Manifestation Array. The demonic heads were completely absorbed in circulating the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art to treat their internal injuries. I assumed the lotus position as well and steadied my mind.
Ever since I’d been wrongly dropped from the real world into this pseudo-murim world, everything I’d experienced was nothing but humiliation. Beatings. That endless imprisonment in the Repentance Cave. A life lower than a beast. And every time I fell asleep, I had to endure countless deaths. Then today, some monk who’d never even seen me before decided to use the meekly locked-up me as a punching bag and toyed with me for fun.
The despair was so crushing I wanted to sink straight into the ground… but what would that change?
Focus. This too shall pass.
I began by circulating the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art. According to the demonic heads, the internal energy methods of this world accumulated qi in the dantian. In contrast, the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art was similar in concept to foundation building yet fundamentally different.
The Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art was a method that created paths. It let the heart absorb the natural energy of the world, then carried that internal qi through the blood to every muscle in the body. The qi that settled in the muscles constantly carved out its own paths, circulated, and generated even more qi on its own. It built new “roads” inside a damaged body, reconnecting everything so that even if the body was injured, it could heal itself. That was its power.
I had tried to seat the Black Abyss Defying Heaven Sutra atop those “muscle paths” created by the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art. But I had failed every time. It seemed the attractive force of the air was stronger than the pull of my own body. The energy of the Black Abyss Defying Heaven Sutra couldn’t overcome gravity and simply scattered into the empty air.
That’s why I’m going to create a new path.
Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art, Second Opening — Brain is the Heavenly Heart.
The Heavenly Heart is the central axis of the universe to which all things return and obey.
Just as every path eventually leads to the Heavenly Heart, all power shall flow toward the brain.
Man is the universe, and the universe is man. The center of man turns toward the brain, and the Heavenly Heart of the universe shall become the brain as well!
I redirected every bit of the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art’s internal energy—energy that had been rotating while carving paths through the muscles centered on my heart—straight toward my head. Repeating the mantra of Brain is the Heavenly Heart in my mind, I began carving a path into my brain.
“Ugh…!”
In that instant, a massive thunderbolt slammed into my skull. The pain was so excruciating it felt like my entire brain was being ripped out. I wanted to scream, but I clenched my teeth. The moment I screamed, this insane wild-horse technique would clearly destroy my head and run amok.
Back when I was an Ultra S-Class Awakener, I’d tried it once for fun and managed to open the path easily thanks to my abilities. But with this pathetic body, the road was brutally difficult. The energy of the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art raced fiercely along the folds of my brain. Once, twice… ten times. Finally, the energy that had been running along my brain broke free from the existing paths and began forcibly prying open a new “gap” toward an unknown territory.
Now!
I immediately pushed the internal energy of the Black Abyss Defying Heaven Sutra onto the path the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art had just carved. The energy that had refused to settle in my muscles and kept scattering now, the moment it rode the brain’s path, began moving vigorously as if it had been waiting for this.
That was when it happened.
Suddenly the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art opened its greedy maw. It began voraciously devouring the Black Abyss Defying Heaven Sutra’s energy that was following it.
Th-this…!
The Black Abyss Defying Heaven Sutra’s energy was the one that panicked. Overcome by instinctive terror, it desperately tried to flee. But the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art chased after it even more fiercely. Like an apex predator driving its prey into a corner, it herded the Black Abyss Defying Heaven Sutra’s energy into the deepest, most secret part of the brain.
In the end, the Black Abyss Defying Heaven Sutra had no choice but to offer part of itself as “bait.” The instant the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art swallowed that bait, the main body of the Black Abyss Defying Heaven Sutra slipped past the brain’s surface (the cortex) and hid in the deepest core.
And finally.
It coiled up like an enormous serpent. The internal energy of the Black Abyss Defying Heaven Sutra, now settled in the heart of the brain, let out a sigh of relief and began rotating on its own. Then… it slowly began to swell in size.
…It worked!
I let out a breath of relief. It was a success. I had only meant to test whether accumulating the Black Abyss Defying Heaven Sutra was possible, but since I was already this far, I completed a full one circulation before opening my eyes.
The moment my concentration broke, I became aware of my surroundings.
…Strange. The Repentance Cave had always been quiet, but today it felt unusually still. The atmosphere was like a funeral parlor.
When I looked at the demonic heads through the upper part of the Vision Manifestation Array, they seemed to have treated most of their internal injuries with the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art… yet for some reason they all looked completely deflated.
“Is everyone okay? Why is the mood like this again?”
No answer. Frustrated, I thumped my chest.
“You don’t even want to talk to me? Fine. Then I won’t say another word from now on. Not ever.”
Only then did their mouths finally open. The Heavenly Poison Old Man spoke in a gloomy voice.
“…While we’ve been trapped here, that bastard Hyeon-jung… has grown terrifyingly strong.”
Gapjil Jijon added, “Thirty years ago the punk couldn’t even meet my eyes. Now… I don’t dare look him in the eye.”
“I… I almost pissed myself!” Blood Buddha Makga’s honest confession followed. It turned into a full-blown pity party.
Watching the demonic heads sink into helplessness and gloom, I took a deep breath. “Huuup!”
“So?”
“…?”
“So you’re just going to sit here like this? Are our demonic heads going to remain losers forever?”
The demonic heads stayed silent.
“Let’s do this. Not just with words—let’s actually get out of here. In the next three months… no, one month. We’re getting out within one month!”
“Madwoman… is that even possible? At our current training speed…” The Heavenly Poison Old Man expressed his doubt.
I snapped at them. “How many days have we even been training? And how do your bodies feel right now?”
The demonic heads flinched. In truth, they had felt their bodies recover at a shocking rate and even accumulate a small amount of internal energy (from the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art).
I drove the point home. “Starting today, we begin the second stage of the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art.”
“…!”
“Anyone who doesn’t want to can drop out. I’m going hard from today onward. Anyone who’s not doing it, raise your hand.”
No one raised a hand. Through the Vision Manifestation Array I could see the demonic heads’ eyes change from despair to firm resolve.
Looking at them, I smiled brighter than I had at any point since arriving in this damned Repentance Cave. Then I declared with determination,
“Good. Then…”
“We’ll eat dinner in hell.”
“Why would we eat dinner in hell?”
“The evening meal offering is already long overdue. Are you planning to starve us again?”
My magnificent declaration was met with the Heavenly Poison Old Man and Gapjil Jijon’s stupid questions.
Tsk… They ruined the mood… clueless bastards.
Right then, the side door of the Repentance Cave opened and the fake monk—Hye-yul—entered. But… what was this? Instead of pouring gruel on the floor like usual, he was carefully scooping it into individual wooden bowls and distributing them with care!
Finally it was my turn. He scooped gruel into a bowl and cautiously placed it inside the iron bars.
What’s this guy scheming now?
When I shot him a suspicious glare, the fake monk flinched. When I kept staring, he lowered his head and said,
“Benefactor… I’m sorry about earlier.”
An apology? This fake monk was apologizing to me? Was this the same guy who had ordered me to grab my own hair earlier?
This bastard… at least he has a shred of conscience.
I saw him in a new light. After finishing the meal distribution, the fake monk hurriedly left through the side door.
“After dinner, we’ll begin immediately,” I declared to the demonic heads.
Then I picked up the bowl with a reverent heart. But… there was no spoon. He had simply dumped plain gruel into the bowl.
…
Even when I tried to think well of him, the fake monk never failed to disappoint. I licked the bowl clean and immediately began training.
“Starting today, I will teach you the second opening of the Heaven-Shattering Divine Power Art.”
I explained the second opening—Brain is the Heavenly Heart—and how to directly imprint the Black Abyss Defying Heaven Sutra onto the brain (upper dantian). Fortunately, although the demonic heads couldn’t fully understand my brilliant words, they had changed dramatically. Instead of grumbling “Will this even work?” like before, they began circulating their energy with terrifyingly high concentration.
Having witnessed my “transcendent mental strength” and their own “helplessness” with their own eyes, they had finally begun to trust me completely.
I repeatedly explained the second-stage mantra and the trick of “evading” the Black Abyss Defying Heaven Sutra’s energy into the brain’s core to the demonic heads as they focused on their circulation.
“Warning you now—when you carve a path into the brain, it will feel like lightning striking your head. It’ll hurt less than dying a hundred and fifty times, but it’ll still hurt like hell. You must never make a sound. The qi could flow backward and your brain might explode.”
Only after confirming that the demonic heads were completely immersed did I begin my own circulation.
***************************
Guangdong Province, Danxia Mountain.
Was this the ancient blood spilled by a god and demon locked in fierce battle, hardened over countless eons? Or was it the earthly fire sleeping in the deepest part of the land boiling up, turning the entire mountain into a massive blazing furnace?
When the sun began to set, it wasn’t that the Ten Thousand Zhang Crimson Glow covered the mountain—it was as if the mountain itself became a red sunset and burned into the sky. It wouldn’t have been strange if a divine beast that had absorbed a thousand years of fire qi roared out from somewhere among those red cliffs.
The mountain peaks looked like thousands of razor-sharp blood-jade sword tips pointed at the heavens. The sheer cliffs were as if an immortal had split them with a giant axe—truly the work of gods and demons.
On one of those sword-like peaks stood a small thatched cottage. In front of it, a middle-aged man who looked like he was just entering old age stood feeling the wind.
“Rain Brother, what could possibly be worth seeing in these rugged mountains that you’d climb all the way up here?”
Behind the middle-aged man, an elderly fellow was panting heavily after struggling up the cliff.
“Huff… huff… Samra-gong! Couldn’t you have picked a more normal place to live?”
“This spot suits my taste perfectly… I was planning to visit you when the time came, yet here you are climbing up with such difficulty.”
At those words the old man burst out angrily.
“It’s already been over a month since the young lady was imprisoned in Shaolin! Her Great Technique will break soon—how can you sound so relaxed?”
When the old man grew furious, the middle-aged man spoke in a soothing tone.
“Now, now, younger brother. It will still take another month or two before the Formless Great Transformation Art breaks, so please calm yourself. Having read the heavenly secrets, I can tell you the young lady will soon leave Shaolin. More importantly… I am worried about something else.”
“What? There’s something else?!”
“Sigh… I expected it, but the probability was so low I didn’t think much of it. Things have gotten a bit complicated.”
“What on earth are you talking about?!”
“It’s just that… she is definitely the young lady, yet… she has become not the young lady.”
At the middle-aged man—Samra-gong’s absurd words, the old man’s heart grew urgent.
“What kind of nonsense is that?!”
“No, but don’t worry. The young lady will return soon.”
In front of the furious old man, Samra-gong scratched his head in embarrassment.