An Absurd Vessel
Rumble, crash...
The wall of the spacious training ground collapsed, showering the area with debris. Stone fragments rolled across the floor, and a thick cloud of dust filled the space.
A completely ruined wall.
And the daggers embedded in the ground, having pierced straight through it.
Staring at the small daggers that had created this spectacle, I couldn't utter a single word.
After standing there dazed for a long while,
“……Huh……?”
The single word I managed to squeeze out was pathetic.
“Is that……”
What is that?
I was the one who did it, yet I couldn't comprehend it.
What? What is this?
If my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, what I just used was...
“The Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky...?”
Yoo Chun-gil answered in my stead. The old man seemed quite shocked himself, covering his mouth with his massive hand.
“...What in the world?”
Even that great man couldn't comprehend the current situation. The shock in his eyes quickly turned into a bewildered scowl.
“How on earth did you do that?”
Unable to figure it out no matter how much he thought, he finally turned to ask me.
The problem was...
...I'd like to know too.
I had no idea either. How did I just do that?
The moment I touched the daggers, my hands moved on their own. Energy suddenly surged through my body, and the daggers flew.
And the daggers that flew...
...were like a literal bombardment.
They became a violent bombardment, completely obliterating the wall.
It was firepower incomparable to the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky attempted by the Poison King.
It was as if they were showing what the real deal looked like—a magnificent display of fierce, overwhelming momentum—
Stumble!
“……!”
Before I could finish my thought, my knee buckled. A sharp, dizzying sensation filled my head.
“……Ha……”
I wondered why this was happening, but checking my body gave me the answer immediately.
My internal energy...
The internal energy filling my core had vanished in an instant. Given everything I had consumed and the fact that I had reached the Peak realm, I assumed I had a substantial amount.
Yet, a single execution of that technique had drained almost all of it.
What kind of ridiculous cost is this?
The consumption rate was absurd. It was even worse than when I manifested sword astral.
As I knelt there, panting heavily from exhaustion,
“……Ah……”
The figure behind me, the Poison King, let out a hollow sigh.
Hearing that, I immediately turned my head.
He wasn't looking at me.
He was frozen, staring blankly at the wall I had destroyed.
The faint, lingering energy rising from the rubble.
The intense spectacle created by those small daggers. The Poison King stood petrified, his eyes glued to the scene. When he finally turned his gaze toward me after a long silence,
I couldn't help but shudder at the intense, burning desire in his eyes.
I practically fled the training ground.
Afterward, the Poison King tried his best to hold me back and question me about the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky, but there was very little I could say.
“I just did it, and it worked.”
I had simply gripped the daggers and executed the technique based on the feeling described in the manual, and it just happened.
Hearing that, the Poison King seemed utterly speechless.
It made sense. I had effortlessly pulled off what he couldn't achieve in his entire lifetime, and to make matters worse, it was his own family's ultimate secret technique and symbol. His reaction was entirely justified.
I could understand his reaction, but...
What does he want me to do about it?
As I said before, there was nothing I could do for him.
I don't even know how I used it myself.
How on earth was I able to use the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky?
It was far too strange to say I had actively tried to do it.
Not only did my body move on its own the moment I grabbed the daggers,
But I wasn't even the one controlling the internal energy.
The energy had moved as if it possessed a will of its own to execute the martial art.
Which meant I was the one who was most bewildered.
How did I actually use it?
My face was a mask of confusion.
It was only natural. Setting aside the fact that I had used the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky without meaning to,
The very fact that I could use it at all was the real problem.
I don't possess the Dang Clan's cultivation method.
A bloodline martial art, especially an ultimate secret technique, naturally required the cultivation method of that specific clan or sect.
It was common sense that attempting to use such a technique without the proper foundation would cause a violent clash of energies, twisting one's meridians.
In other words...
Qi Deviation.
It should have inevitably led to Qi Deviation, which was practically a death sentence for any martial artist.
So how?
My body showed no signs of such a backlash.
Aside from my internal energy being completely drained, I didn't feel particularly damaged.
How was this possible?
Hoping Yoo Chun-gil might know something, I looked at the old man.
“...What a bizarre body you have.”
…….
He, too, was simply staring at me with curiosity, clearly having no idea.
This is driving me crazy.
“How did your meridians not twist? Kid, did you do something behind my back?”
“Do what? Even if I wanted to, I couldn't hide it from you. Besides, if even you don't know, how on earth would I?”
The greatest of all time, the World's Greatest.
If Yoo Chun-gil, who once stood at the absolute pinnacle of martial arts, didn't know, there was no way I would.
“Hmm...”
Knowing this, Yoo Chun-gil simply kept studying me with fascination.
Rather than feeling fascinated, I was busy checking myself over with a panicked expression.
I was worried that something might have gone wrong inside me.
I don't have a clue.
The lack of answers only made my thoughts more tangled.
As I kept mulling it over,
Oh.
A sudden realization flashed through my mind.
Could it be?
Frowning, I recalled what had happened not too long ago.
It was the moment Dok-jon passed on to the afterlife and left me with his energy.
Could that have been the cause?
No matter how much I thought about it, that was the only variable.
If that was the case...
How?
What exactly did Dok-jon leave me with?
If this was caused by him giving me something other than just raw energy, what could it be? As I pondered this deeply,
“Kid.”
Yoo Chun-gil called out.
“Yes?”
“Step aside for a moment.”
My eyes widened slightly at his words. I knew exactly what he was trying to do.
Without a word, I closed my eyes.
In that instant, I felt Yoo Chun-gil enter my body.
Hummm—!
His energy immediately began to circulate.
It swept rapidly through my entire body before sinking back into my dantian.
And then...
“Ha!”
Yoo Chun-gil let out a sharp gasp through my mouth before slipping back out of my body.
“Well, well?”
“What is it?”
“What an utterly absurd situation.”
His reaction was unusual. Was there a problem? I asked him, feeling a sudden wave of anxiety.
“...Kid.”
“Yes?”
“Did you say your family was the Yoryeong Bang Clan?”
“That's right.”
It was a place too embarrassing and frustrating to show anyone, but yes, that was my home.
But why was he suddenly asking about that?
I looked at Yoo Chun-gil in confusion.
“...Just what on earth is your family's true identity?”
“……Excuse me?”
It was a rather bizarre question.
“What do you mean, what is my family?”
The Bang family was just the Bang family. A ruined, dilapidated clan in Yoryeong. That was all they were.
Yoo Chun-gil should have known this well enough, so his sudden question left me thoroughly bewildered.
However...
“Kid.”
Despite my baffled expression, Yoo Chun-gil's face remained dead serious.
With a solemn and rigid expression, Yoo Chun-gil spoke to me.
“The energy of the Dang Clan is currently mixed into your body.”
“……What?”
My brow furrowed deeply. What kind of nonsense was this?
“The energy of the Dang Clan...”
Did he mean Danggamyeonggong?
“Why would that be in my body...?”
It made absolutely no sense. I had heard that Danggamyeonggong could only be cultivated after enduring agonizing, torture-like pain.
Even putting that aside...
Does it even make sense to have another energy inside my body?
My body was already overloaded.
I originally possessed the Bang family's cultivation method.
And on top of that, Yoo Chun-gil had forcibly implanted the Cheongwol Mind Method.
If these energies went wild, my body would literally explode, which was why I had been forcing myself to train so desperately.
And now the Dang Clan's energy too?
It meant I should have exploded and died a long time ago.
Yet, as absurd as it sounded, I couldn't outright deny it.
Because if that's true...
It would explain how I was able to use the Rain of Flowers Filling the Sky.
However...
“How is that even possible?”
I needed to hear how such a thing was physically possible. If what Yoo Chun-gil said was true, then as I thought, I should have suffered Qi Deviation and exploded long ago.
At my urgent question, Yoo Chun-gil spoke with a deeply contemplative look.
“What did you say your family's cultivation method was called?”
“……Banghomeonggong?”
“Yes. That one.”
“What about it?”
Banghomeonggong was the cultivation method of the Yoryeong Bang family, a martial art passed down through the bloodline.
Only my older brother and I had learned it. My older sister hadn't even been allowed to inherit it because she was a daughter.
She used to grumble about the blatant discrimination, though she never complained too loudly.
Thinking back, it was probably because she had already resolved to run away from home.
But even without that...
Why would anyone covet such a pathetic cultivation method anyway?
Even if it was a bloodline inheritance, it was an incredibly insignificant technique.
I heard that the cultivation methods of other prestigious clans accumulate energy with every breath you take.
Banghomeonggong did nothing of the sort.
It was painfully slow at absorbing the energy in the atmosphere, and its capacity to store the gathered internal energy was laughably poor.
Why else would I have remained a Third-rate martial artist even after practicing it for ten years?
Sure, talent played a part, but...
It was mostly because my family's cultivation method was absolute garbage.
This third-rate cultivation method had zero efficiency.
I was absolutely certain that practicing it was the root of my stagnation.
It was obvious.
The difference is night and day compared to the Cheongwol Mind Method.
The Cheongwol Mind Method, which was hailed as a divine technique.
After learning it, the contrast became starkly clear.
It's on a completely different level.
The speed of absorption.
The density and purity of the energy accumulated in the body. In every single aspect, it was incomparable to Banghomeonggong.
I had to admit it.
My family's cultivation method is trash.
No wonder the clan went to ruin with a technique like that.
I had fully accepted that reality.
“……What about it?”
Why bring up Banghomeonggong all of a sudden?
I stared at Yoo Chun-gil with questioning eyes.
Did this have something to do with my current physical state? But how could it?
I couldn't see any connection whatsoever.
In the midst of my confusion, Yoo Chun-gil spoke.
“The Banghomeonggong in your body is preventing the different energies from clashing.”
“……What?”
I let out a dumbfounded gasp at his words.
What did he just say...?
“The Cheongwol Mind Method wants nothing more than to tear the Dang Clan's energy to shreds this very instant. But your family's cultivation method is acting as a buffer in the middle, preventing them from going wild.”
“……Is that... even possible?”
“Of course not.”
Emotion finally broke through Yoo Chun-gil's usually expressionless face.
Seeing it, I instinctively flinched.
He was smiling.
Yoo Chun-gil grinned widely, as if he had just discovered the most entertaining thing in the world.
Glee.
Ecstasy.
Or perhaps sheer awe.
His face burned with a mixture of intense emotions.
“I have never seen such a thing in all my life. Even that bastard Cheonma couldn't pull off something like this. Just what is it, kid?”
Yoo Chun-gil brought his massive face right up to my nose.
“Just what is the true identity of the Bang family?”
My eyes shook violently at his question.
What is this cultivation method, and what is the Bang family's secret?
How the hell should I know...
That was exactly what I wanted to ask.