Body-Protecting Strong Blood
Chirp-chirp-chirp—
The next day.
Gwak Yeon rose at the crack of dawn and settled straight into a lotus position. He wanted to confirm once more the effects of the spiritual herb he had consumed the day before.
Circulation of qi. Regulated breathing.
As he slowly exhaled and drew breath back in, he felt it. Not only had the quantity of inner force he held increased—the speed at which he could circulate that force had quickened, if only slightly.
Confirmed.
Some of the turbid qi contained within his inner force had vanished. Inner force was like that by nature. Accumulating a great deal in the dantian mattered, of course, but so did sending that accumulated force through the eight extraordinary meridians and the vessels of the entire body at precisely the right moment. The more impurities mixed into the force, the more sluggishly it moved through the blood channels—and that made a considerable difference in fights between practitioners of similar level. That was why the mind methods of the orthodox sects, which gathered pure qi even if more slowly, commanded such high regard, and why a true master could subdue lesser fighters with exquisite, unpredictable movements even with only a handful of inner force.
The time for a Small Heavenly Circuit has shortened compared to usual.
In that regard, Gwak Yeon was puzzled. The purity of his inner force had risen, however faintly. How? The spiritual herb the Cheonhae Merchant Group had given him this time could not have been better than the family elixir the Family Head had provided last time.
No. Perhaps… he had experienced this same effect when he took the family’s elixir before. Only the degree of purification had been slight, and back then he had been so shocked by how easily this body absorbed the medicine that he might simply have missed it.
But then—
……Wait a moment.
Suddenly Gwak Yeon felt it. The inner force flowing through his blood channels—and from somewhere in the body surrounding that force, a peculiar sensation.
Gulp!
Blood. Whether it was blood he had absorbed from villains before or blood born from Gwak Yeon’s own heart made no difference. What mattered now was one thing. His blood had driven out some of the turbid qi from the newly acquired inner force. For a brief moment, blood and inner force had interfered with each other.
Could it be?
He also felt it instinctively. Assimilation. If he used this in another way—
Pfft!
Gwak Yeon drew blood from his thumb. Red fluid welled up at once. When he activated his ability, a thin crimson stream shot out from the cut and began to circle around his finger.
Spin.
Watching the circulating stream, Gwak Yeon applied force with his thumb. Around the blood surging from it, something like a heat haze took shape—as if it possessed form of its own.
“……!”
Seeing the stream that did not scatter even when flicked by the opposite finger, Gwak Yeon’s eyes widened. With a resilience almost like a spinning top, this thing whirling around his thumb was no longer simple blood. It was a blood stream mixed with inner force. Soon the fluid spinning about his thumb scattered together with the force, yet even in that instant Gwak Yeon discovered enormous utility in this ability that allowed him to blend inner force into a blood stream. He could use it when shooting a stream in an instant, of course—and he could also employ it as a protective barrier to ward off an opponent’s attack in a crisis.
Swoosh!
This time he pulled a stream from his arm, loaded it with inner force, and spun it around his neck. A peculiar smile rose on his face. It required concentration and could cover only one area at a time, but it was still an ability that could let him avoid a fatal wound once in an emergency.
Should he call this Hosinganghyeol—Body-Protecting Strong Blood?
“Ha… hahahaha……”
Gwak Yeon laughed with an incredulous expression. He slowly organized the vampire abilities he currently possessed.
First: shooting out blood streams with lethal sharpness.
Second: bewitching an opponent with his eyes.
Third: protecting his body with blood streams that carried inner force.
And fourth: absorbing from other living beings the blood that made all of this possible.
Here Gwak Yeon thought. Increased inner force and increased blood. From the minute assimilation that had appeared between them, he had created a new ability.
If I gain even more inner force and absorb even more blood than now?
Not only would his existing abilities strengthen—he might awaken other powers that seemed impossible at present. He was already feeling the former. With the increased inner force from yesterday’s spiritual herb, this body could shoot blood streams a little farther than a few weeks ago, and the gaze he used to extract confessions could be maintained a little longer.
This isn’t the end. There’s definitely more I haven’t awakened yet.
He was certain. The memory of the Shadowless Old Monster from his previous life proudly boasting about creating this body remained vivid even now.
A grin tugged at the corner of Gwak Yeon’s mouth. He felt a renewed conviction that this body was optimized not only for punishing villains but for catching the great evils he had failed to catch even in his previous life—a body that would grow stronger the more inner force and the more blood of villains it absorbed.
Thump!
Gwak Yeon sprang up from his seat. It was a craftsman’s nature to want to try out a new tool the moment he acquired one. He wanted to use the vampire abilities that had been strengthened in various ways after his inner force increased on those black-path bastards right away.
I’ll use everything I couldn’t last time, all piled up.
He had been frustrated in the fight with Baek Jung-hyeok. No matter how many openings he saw, there had simply been too many watching eyes to employ these vampire powers.
Ah, and at the Ha brothers’ manor as well……
As he left his quarters with these various thoughts, that was when it happened.
“Have you risen, Young Master?”
“Huh.”
Gwak Yeon flinched at Cheon Gang’s greeting from in front of the door—not because he had not known the man was there, but because a blue bruise sat near Cheon Gang’s eye.
“Don’t tell me…… you lost?”
“……As if.”
With a resentful face, Cheon Gang began to ramble.
“Honestly, my body wasn’t feeling great yesterday. And fighting bare-handed without a single weapon is something I hadn’t done in a long while. Ah, of course—rather than fighting, it was more like playing with him.”
“Heoksijo isn’t an ordinary spiritual beast.”
“It was more troublesome than dealing with three or four wolves. Of course it must have some useful merits for you to have taken it in, Young Master. Ah, and of course I also held back because you said it had its uses.”
“Ah.”
It seemed to have been quite a fierce fight. Perhaps it was stronger even than the One-Horned Fire Net, known as an aggressive spiritual beast? As he was thinking that, Cheon Gang laboriously changed the subject.
“Ah, and Manager Yu asked me to inquire about a convenient time for you. He wishes to pay a visit.”
“Manager Yu? Me? Why?”
“It seemed related to this caravan trip with the Cheonhae Merchant Group.”
Gwak Yeon nodded lightly.
“I’ll go see him now.”
“Now, you say?”
“It’s more comfortable than setting a time and waiting around unnecessarily.”
“Yes.”
Gwak Yeon set out at once. He spoke lightly to Cheon Gang, who was trailing after him.
“It’s fine. I’ll go alone.”
“E-even so, going alone is……”
“It’s inside the family estate anyway, right? No need to stick so close. When I don’t specifically say otherwise, you can train on your own or whatever.”
“I-is that so.”
Security within this manor was handled by Biryongdang. The elite of Wi Jong-geuk—whom Gwak Seo-ryong himself had acknowledged—kept watch with sharp eyes day and night, perfectly protecting the safety of the family members. Thus, if he had no business leaving the manor, there was no particular need for a bodyguard warrior.
Though there are often times I want to move alone even outside the manor.
Whether he knew of such thoughts or not, Cheon Gang soon opened his mouth with an embarrassed expression.
“Ah, if that’s the case—ahem!”
“Something the matter?”
“W-well, that is. If you wouldn’t mind, Young Master…… may I go finish something up?”
“Finish? Finish what?”
Cheon Gang’s gaze directed toward Iyeongak. Gwak Yeon understood at once.
“Your match with Heoksijo still isn’t decided?”
“Th-that bastard was thrashing around as if his life depended on it, so I took pity and let it slide yesterday.”
Gwak Yeon looked at Cheon Gang, who wore an extremely complicated expression. He nodded. The moment he did, Cheon Gang bowed, then spun around and dashed off toward Iyeongak. Focusing his vampire hearing in that direction, Gwak Yeon heard:
“Hey, come at me! The Young Master gave permission. Let’s settle the unfinished match!”
“Drop the staff—! We agreed no weapons—!”
“What, are you shaking in fear?”
“Scared without your staff—?! You’re the one trembling—!”
“You insolent bird bastard!”
“Stupid human!”
“Come on!”
“Come on!”
Gwak Yeon was briefly stunned by the conversation inside Iyeongak that sounded as if a decisive life-or-death struggle was about to erupt.
“……”
Barely suppressing the curiosity that surged up, he moved his feet toward where Manager Yu was.
Manager Yu worked in the hall that oversaw all the major and minor affairs of the Seoho Gwak Family. Among the buildings rising within the manor, that one saw an especially constant traffic of retainers and documents. Receiving the respectful greetings of laborers and retainers, Gwak Yeon passed through three corridors, stepped out into the rear garden, and found a detached building waiting.
Manager Yu’s office.
“Steward. The Second Young Master has arrived.”
What greeted Gwak Yeon first upon entering was a desk buried under stacks of papers—and a face peeking out from beside them. Manager Yu.
“Ah—Young Master. I had intended to come to you myself……”
Meeting Gwak Yeon’s eyes, he rose, offered a greeting, and prepared to yield the seat of honor.
“Would you care to sit over here for the moment? I’m embarrassed—the office is in such a state.”
“It’s fine. I’ll sit here.”
“Then at least a cup of tea. You there!”
“Tea is unnecessary as well. I heard you had something to say regarding the Cheonhae Merchant Group’s caravan.”
“Ah—yes.”
Manager Yu sent the remaining retainer outside. When he turned back to Gwak Yeon, his gaze held a complicated light. Thanks to the generous wealth obtained from the Cheonhae Merchant Group through this martial exchange tour, the old negative feelings had faded—yet he was still a man who had already cast his lot with the Third Young Master, Gwak Ho-shin, in the competition for family successor. Even so, Manager Yu was no fool who would ruin everyone by failing to separate public duty from private interest. Especially not before a great task that would elevate the name of the entire Seoho Gwak Family.
“You returned to Hangzhou only yesterday. Have you recovered from the journey?”
“I’m perfectly fine.”
“I had worried you might have strained body and energy during the martial exchanges. The caravan departs in less than two weeks, after all.”
“You need not worry in the slightest.”
“That is a relief.”
Manager Yu brought up the main subject—the caravan with the Cheonhae Merchant Group.
“In truth, rather more of the Seoho Gwak Family is riding on this caravan than one might expect. The Family Head sent word that I was to convey this to you, Young Master.”
Gwak Yeon’s expression remained calm. Talk of long-term profits and the like simply did not stir him much. Unless the matter involved the hidden powers in the shadows, he would far rather head out at once to thrash black-path scum, test his abilities, and dig up information.
As if guessing something of that feeling, Manager Yu suddenly waved a hand.
“Ah—I am not merely repeating what you heard last time. The Family Head hopes that before this caravan departs, you will hone the martial prowess you currently possess to an even sharper edge.”
“My martial prowess?”
“Yes. There may well be situations in which your skill is needed even more than it was during this recent martial exchange tour.”
“The more difficult the caravan, the more important martial skill becomes. If that is the concern, you may rest easy.”
“That is not quite……”
“Stop circling and speak plainly. What exactly are you trying to say?”
Gwak Yeon raised his voice, impatient. Just how treacherous could this caravan be? If one of the Seven Great Families rumored to be connected to the Blood Cult were involved, that would be one thing—but what else warranted this much caution?
“……The destination of this caravan,” Manager Yu said at last, “is the Hubei Pang Family—one of the Seven Great Families.”
“!”