Reaching the Peak
Peak.
It was the realm that most martial artists in the Central Plains called their life's goal, a state they desperately yearned to reach.
The internal energy residing in the dantian was an absolute necessity for a martial artist.
Clad the body in this energy, and one could lift what was once unliftable. Channel it into a weapon, and one could pierce the impenetrable and cut the uncuttable.
Energy was the single most vital element to a martial artist.
And that was precisely why they coveted the Peak realm so fiercely.
The moment one ascended to it, their dantian and physical vessel underwent a metamorphosis, transcending the mere act of shrouding oneself in energy to truly becoming one with it.
One planted the seed of energy within the body, nurturing it through grueling training and repeated enlightenment.
Eventually, it matured and bloomed.
From Third-rate to Second-rate, and from Second-rate to First-rate.
The stage where that climbed and cultivated seed finally blossomed was the Peak realm.
The stage where the energy within the body finally fused into one.
It was the dream of every martial artist in the Central Plains, yet a place that some could never reach, no matter how hard they struggled for a lifetime.
...The limit of the mediocre, and the proof of a genius.
It was the wall where those denied talent ultimately withered away, unable to cross.
It was common knowledge that seven out of ten martial artists fell before ever reaching the Peak.
And I've reached the Peak...?
I stood there, utterly dumbfounded, feeling the vibrant vitality circulating through my body.
Someone once said that the Peak realm was the proof of a genius.
It was a realm accessible only to those blessed with talent, forever barred to those without it.
And yet.
...It hasn't even been that long since I became First-rate.
It hadn't even been ten days since I consumed the Great Pill of the Shaolin Temple to reach the First-rate realm.
Before I even realized it, I had suddenly ascended to the Peak.
How was I supposed to explain this? Finding no words, I could only remain silent.
Yoo Chun-gil was muttering to himself, looking thoroughly displeased.
His face was twisted in a grimace, as if my breakthrough to the Peak was the last thing he wanted.
Peak.
Every time I thought of the word, a strange heat welled up inside me.
The Peak...
When I first reached the First-rate realm, I had felt an incredibly intense rush of emotion.
But now that I had actually reached the Peak, the feeling was strangely muted.
Perhaps it was more accurate to say it didn't feel real yet.
The strange part was that I instinctively knew I had reached it.
So this is the Peak.
I broke through the wall and reached the Peak.
Even without anyone telling me, I just knew.
"..."
I repeatedly clenched and unclenched my fists.
If I had to describe the sensation of reaching the Peak, besides the awkwardness...
More than anything.
It was the peculiar sensation of floating.
My body felt weightless, as if I would take flight the moment I lifted my feet.
Was it an illusion? The moment I registered the feeling, an urge to draw my sword washed over me.
I wanted to fully experience this new realm. That single thought dominated my mind.
Just as my hand instinctively reached for the hilt—
"!"
Yoo Chun-gil's voice snapped me back to reality.
"..."
Merely the Peak.
Those words instantly cooled the rising heat within me.
To others, it was a brutal wall wrapped in grand terms like "the proof of a genius," "the limit of the mediocre," or "the dream of a lifetime."
Yet, hearing him dismiss it as "merely" that made me feel a heavy sense of gravity, a touch of absurdity, and, oddly enough, anticipation.
"...Couldn't you at least congratulate me a little?"
His words stung.
It was true. Both my ascension to First-rate and now the Peak had been achieved solely through external miracles, making his criticism hit particularly close to home.
Of course.
Still, it doesn't feel bad.
This was a place I had believed I would never reach in my entire life.
Who could have imagined it? Not even I had, let alone anyone who knew me.
Reaching the First-rate realm was unbelievable enough, but to go beyond that to the Peak?
Moreover.
It hasn't even been a year.
Less than a year since I met Yoo Chun-gil.
In that short span, I had reached the Peak.
It was an absurdly short amount of time.
What took others a lifetime had taken me less than a year.
And the one who made it happen...
Was the former World's Greatest and the strongest under heaven, who was currently wearing a deeply annoyed expression.
...I hate to admit it.
But at this point, I had no choice.
He was serious.
The words he had tossed out so casually, as if talking about taking a stroll down the street.
That I had to become the World's Greatest.
Yoo Chun-gil's words suddenly echoed in my ears.
I looked at him and spoke.
"...Old man."
"Are you alright?"
Yoo Chun-gil narrowed his eyes at my question.
"You know... about the elder of the Dang Clan leaving."
After all, a friend of his had departed.
I hadn't expected Dok-jon to leave so abruptly.
Even if his lingering regrets were resolved, I thought he might try to hold on a little longer.
I had worried about that, but he had truly vanished in the blink of an eye.
He had disappeared before I could even bid him a proper farewell, so I was asking if Yoo Chun-gil was okay with that.
Yoo Chun-gil burst into laughter.
"...Hmm..."
His face was completely indifferent.
I wondered if this man was even capable of feeling shaken.
Whether he noticed my curiosity or not, Yoo Chun-gil spoke again.
"...Where to?"
"Ah."
That reminded me of the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky.
Right. I had to do that.
"Haha..."
A chuckle escaped my lips at the absurdity of the situation.
The legendary hero of the Dang Clan, the Poison Sovereign, a ghost who belonged to the Heavens Beyond Heaven, had ascended.
And perhaps because of that, my realm had reached the Peak.
Yet, I didn't even have the time to celebrate or process it.
Combined with his attitude that reaching the Peak was no big deal, it was so ridiculous that I could only laugh.
In this situation, my task was to return to my quarters and spend the entire night writing in a book.
The next day, I went to see the Poison King again.
It was to wrap up what we had discussed yesterday.
In a way, this was the final step of my business in the Dang Clan.
...Ugh, I'm exhausted.
Dragging my sleep-deprived body, I faced the Poison King.
"Greetings."
"Welcome..."
The Poison King, who was about to greet me, froze mid-sentence, his brow furrowing.
We met in a spacious training ground.
I wondered why he reacted that way, but the reason quickly dawned on me.
He noticed.
The Poison King had realized I had reached the Peak.
He had done the same when I reached the First-rate realm, and it seemed he had noticed it this time as well.
"Is something the matter?" I asked, playing dumb.
The Poison King quickly composed his expression.
"It is nothing."
After all, it was hard to believe someone's realm could jump in a single day. I just had to keep playing dumb.
As if to prove my point, the Poison King didn't press the matter. Confirming his reaction, I pulled a book from my robes and handed it to him.
It was the promised item.
"..."
The Poison King carefully accepted the book.
His face showed a rare, intense reaction.
Flip.
He opened the book immediately to check its contents.
"...The ink doesn't even seem to be dry."
"Ah, yes. I wrote it in a hurry, so it might still be a bit wet."
"...What?"
The Poison King looked at me with a bewildered expression.
"Are you saying this is not a manual that was already prepared?"
I waved my hand dismissively, acting as if he was talking nonsense.
"Come now, what are you talking about? My master ordered me to read all of his secret manuals and burn them."
"But you clearly said he left behind something regarding the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky."
This was in reference to what we had discussed earlier.
Back then, I had claimed to have seen a manual on the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky and offered to help by passing it on.
Now that I admitted to writing it overnight, the Poison King's face fell.
"Yes, that is correct."
"If the original manual was burned, then this book you have handed me might not be accurate, Young Hero Bang."
He was asking how I could remember it after so much time, suggesting the contents were likely incorrect.
From a common-sense perspective, he was right, but...
"No, it will be correct."
I knew for a fact that the manual was accurate.
After all.
I wrote it down last night while listening to it directly. How could it be wrong?
I had simply transcribed everything Yoo Chun-gil babbled behind my back.
The content wasn't that long, and there was no way it was wrong.
If it was wrong, then Yoo Chun-gil was the one who was wrong.
"I memorized everything my master wrote down. Not a single word is out of place."
"...You memorized all of it? All of those numerous books?"
"There weren't actually that many, but it wasn't a difficult task."
"..."
He still looked skeptical. Seeing that, I scrunched up my nose and spoke.
"If you do not believe me, there is nothing I can say. However, this book contains exactly what I received from my master. If you really cannot trust it, why not give it a try?"
At my suggestion, the Poison King looked back at the manual as if he had been waiting for the chance.
It was filled with the sequence of energy application and the forms required to execute the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky.
As he read, energy began to radiate from the Poison King.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind made of pure energy whipped around the Poison King.
His martial robes fluttered as he slowly moved his hands.
At that moment—
Swish!
Dozens of hidden weapons erupted from his hands, soaring into the air.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
The hidden weapons filling the sky soon swept down, raining onto the ground.
Countless weapons embedded themselves in the dirt.
Seeing this, the Poison King's expression shifted slightly, and so did mine.
Is that the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky?
The ultimate technique and symbol of the Dang Clan.
I had heard it was a technique where hidden weapons filled the sky and poured down like rain to sweep the battlefield.
...It looks like it, but...
The form seemed correct, but something felt off.
Just then.
Yoo Chun-gil spoke to me, his voice laced with concern.
It seemed the Poison King had done something wrong. I had suspected as much, and it turned out to be true.
"How is it?" I asked, curious about his reaction.
"This is..."
"Hmm?"
The Poison King looked deeply moved by the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky he had just unleashed.
What? Why is he satisfied...?
To me, it looked like he had simply thrown a bunch of hidden weapons at once.
Yet, for some reason, he seemed pleased.
Ah, could it be...
Because he's never seen it before?
Because he had never witnessed the actual Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky used by the Poison Sovereign.
Or perhaps...
He's just glad it feels like a success.
Even if it wasn't perfect, he had felt that the manual was the real deal, which might explain his reaction.
"Hmm..."
I tilted my head.
Then, without realizing it, I walked toward the hidden weapons.
I was already moving before I could think.
As expected of the Dang Clan's training ground, countless hidden weapons were scattered about.
I picked up three or four of them.
This was the first time I had ever touched such weapons.
And yet.
Why does this feel familiar?
As I toyed with them, they felt strangely familiar in my hands. Why?
Just as I was caught in a daze by this bizarre familiarity—
Hum!
A sensation rippled through my dantian.
Yoo Chun-gil called out to me.
But my body was already moving without answering him.
In my mind, the instructions for the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky—which I had memorized while writing them down all night—flashed vividly.
Why was I doing this all of a sudden?
Even as I questioned myself, the energy originating from my dantian surged through my meridians.
My fingertips, charged with internal energy, released the hidden weapons.
"Young Hero Bang, this manual is—"
Just as the Poison King spoke in a slightly brighter tone—
*BOOM!*
"!"
The weapons I threw flew past him and struck the training ground.
As they descended, they triggered a series of explosions and deafening blasts.
It was a completely different sound from what the Poison King had produced.
Unlike the hundreds of weapons he had simply embedded in the ground, the three or four weapons I threw shattered not only the floor but also the walls, instantly blowing a massive hole in the training ground.
*Crumble...*
Debris fell from the ruined wall.
"...What the fuck?"
I swore under my breath as I stared at the destruction.
The Poison King, Yoo Chun-gil, and I all wore identical, dumbfounded expressions.
The Poison King slowly turned his head toward me, his neck practically creaking.
Faced with his gaze, there was only one thing I could say.
"...No, I was just trying to copy it... Why did that work? This shouldn't be possible. I mean... uh... I'm sorry."
"..."
The Poison King remained silent in response to my awkward apology.
That silence was far more terrifying.