EP 6: Retake Academy Elite University Class

Yoo Ji-tae thrust his hips upward once, and Lee Ah-rang's defenses were completely neutralized. The layers of yin energy she had stacked were shattered in an instant. Lee Ah-rang clamped both hands over her mouth to stifle her moans. "Mmph. Mmmph. Ghh-mmph."

Yoo Ji-tae kept driving his hips into her. Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Like a battering ram smashing against the gates of a fortress, he relentlessly struck against her navel without pause. "Hah... hngh. Khk...."

Lee Ah-rang struggled to regain her senses amid the flood of pleasure. Dual cultivation inherently carried the effect of satisfying lust and desire. Yet the moment one melted into that ecstasy, the practitioner surrendered their life-and-death authority to their partner. Not only would all their power be stolen, but their very life would be handed over as well.

'If it weren't for the Level 3 dual cultivation technique, I would've passed out right there.'

Lee Ah-rang gazed at Yoo Ji-tae with a mixture of resentment and affection. 'Ji-tae... you're too good at this.... You've never done dual cultivation before, right...? And yet... you're this skilled....'

'As expected of my husband....'

The joy of dual cultivation once again tore through her thoughts. "Ngh! Nnnngh!!!"

Lee Ah-rang's back arched like a bow. Even so, Yoo Ji-tae did not stop. Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud! His yang energy bombarded the inside of her body like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠artillery shells. The extreme solar energy churning through her body indiscriminately struck and devoured her soft yin energy.

'I've been completely penetrated inside....'

Lee Ah-rang felt as though her brain was melting from the overwhelming pleasure coursing through her entire body. 'Ji-tae.... You're too good....'

Lee Ah-rang's legs trembled like a deer's as she burst into tears. "Hic. Uu... ugh...."

Yoo Ji-tae saw her tears. "Are you okay?"

"N-no. I'm sorry, Ji-tae-ya. I can keep going...."

Lee Ah-rang forced a smile through her tears. It was a benevolent smile, as if she were willing to surrender everything to her opponent. Seeing that, Yoo Ji-tae's mind came to a halt.

'...Did I go too far?'

'My dual cultivation technique is Level 5. Compared to that, Lee Ah-rang's skill is only around Level 2 or 3. Because of the gap in our levels, I attacked too one-sidedly.'

'The idea that Lee Ah-rang was trying to steal my power was just a guess. Maybe these two really came here out of concern for me....'

Yoo Ji-tae wore a worried expression. Lee Ah-rang shuddered inwardly.

'Even after realizing he's fallen into a trap, he's still worrying about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me instead.'

Lee Ah-rang's face flushed, and her heart pounded. '...He's too kind. I like him. I like him so much....'

While the assault paused, Lee Ah-rang wriggled her hips forward. Tok. Tok. The contact was like a woman coquettishly pressing against a man. It was by no means a dual cultivation technique intense enough to be considered an attack. It was a proposal for a truce.

"Ji-tae-ya.... Let me rest for a bit.... Okay? Just a little gentler... Let's take it slow, just for a little while?"

Lee Ah-rang gazed at Yoo Ji-tae with melted eyes and acted coy. Yoo Ji-tae alternated his gaze between Taeguk Shin-gun and Lee Ah-rang before nodding.

'Maybe these two really did come to teach me dual cultivation out of genuine concern.'

'...If I misunderstood that as a trap and treated them mercilessly...'

Yoo Ji-tae gently stroked Lee Ah-rang's hair. "...I'm sorry. Did it hurt a lot?"

"Mm. No."

Lee Ah-rang tasted a sense of guilt inwardly. 'I'm sorry, Ji-tae-ya.'

This was called a deception tactic. It was a stratagem of feigning surrender when one had no intention of doing so, in order to exploit an opening. Dual cultivation was akin to war; the deeper one's knowledge of history, the more its depths revealed themselves. Among them, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms was particularly renowned for its depth. That was why there was a saying that one should never fight a woman who had read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms twice.

'...Ji-tae-ya. You shouldn't have taught me the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.'

Lee Ah-rang wrapped both arms around Yoo Ji-tae's back and pressed her entire torso against him. Smiling slyly, she acted coy toward him. It was a seduction so convincing that even she herself was unsure whether it was genuine.

"Ji-tae-ya. I'll teach you everything you don't know."

Lee Ah-rang completely lowered her defenses. Her tone even suggested she had abandoned the match entirely. Yoo Ji-tae could only look flustered. Suspecting she might have other intentions, he remained wary and refrained from launching an attack.

Lee Ah-rang smiled. 'The Empty Fort Strategy. The Lute-Playing Retreat.'

Zhuge Liang had bought time against Sima Yi and his massive army by abandoning his defenses and playing the lute. It was a strategy of deliberately showing a vulnerable appearance to arouse caution in the opponent.

'And. The Ambush Tactic.'

Lee Ah-rang focused her consciousness on her back. Yin energy from Taeguk Shin-gun's hand flowed into her body. Even if all the yin energy in her body had been devoured by Yoo Ji-tae, replenishing it from the Divine Lord would reverse the tide. It was as if she alone possessed infinite health.

'...I'm being underhanded.'

Lee Ah-rang wore a twisted smile. 'Pretending to fight fairly while lying, deceiving Ji-tae, and trying to pull him out of the academy like this.'

Lee Ah-rang looked at Yoo Ji-tae. 'But it can't be helped.'

She recalled the time Yoo Ji-tae had been brought to the hospital in a near-death state. He had been in a wretched, blood-soaked condition, looking as though he might die at any moment.

'If I leave him at the academy, Ji-tae will end up in a mess again. So I can't leave him in a place like that. I have to keep him by my side and protect him.'

'That's why I'm lying to him, deceiving him, using tricks. I am.'

'I'm sorry.'

Lee Ah-rang finished replenishing her yin energy. '...Still, let's do this.'

Lee Ah-rang launched a counterattack.

While Lee Ah-rang and Yoo Ji-tae remained pressed together and motionless, Taeguk Shin-gun looked at Yoo Ji-tae with admiration.

'To think he raised his understanding of dual cultivation techniques to Level 5 in the time he was outside. I never imagined my child possessed such talent.'

'...To achieve that level of proficiency without a proper partner requires not only considerable intellect but also deep aptitude. It is talent capable of stirring a storm in the dual cultivation world. An aptitude that appears once in a hundred years....'

In Taeguk Shin-gun's eyes, Yoo Ji-tae seemed to radiate light from his entire body.

'Men are said to be precious, but my child is on a different level. It would not be an exaggeration to say he possesses the qualities to reach the legendary Ssangsu Mado Sinche.'

'If Ah-rang had ignored the possibility of death from excessive pleasure and pushed forward, it would have been my child who won. He would have completely subdued Ah-rang in just one minute, no, thirty seconds. But he hesitated because of Ah-rang's tears.'

Taeguk Shin-gun barely suppressed a laugh and clenched her fists tightly.

'...He's kind.'

Taeguk Shin-gun managed to compose her emotions and forced a bitter smile.

'But that's exactly why it won't do....'

Taeguk Shin-gun's heart felt as though it would burst.

'He's too fragile to be left in a place like that. He couldn't even see through this kind of malicious intent.'

Yin energy replenished, Lee Ah-rang launched her counteroffensive once more. She pushed Yoo Ji-tae onto his back. Geuseungyeokma. It meant mounting the belly of a horse flipped toward the sky. The position where the man lay on his back facing the ceiling while the woman climbed on top. It was also called the cowgirl position.

'Yin energy possesses even greater destructive power when struck downward from above.'

In response, Yoo Ji-tae wore a hollow smile. "...Hey."

"Sorry. But I'll sincerely reflect on it later."

Whoosh. Yin energy mercilessly dug into Yoo Ji-tae's body. His extreme solar energy was instantly slain and devoured by Lee Ah-rang's yin energy. Yoo Ji-tae could no longer feel sensation in the lower half of his body.

'The erosion is fast...!'

Lee Ah-rang rubbed her cheek against Yoo Ji-tae's chest while shaking her hips. "I'm sorry, Ji-tae-ya. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. But Ji-tae? If you lose, I'll do even better. I'll do my best for the rest of my life.... Okay? Ji-tae-ya.... Please...."

Yoo Ji-tae ignored Lee Ah-rang's desperate plea and closed his eyes.

'If I lose here, all my power will be taken away. Everything I've done so far will collapse!'

'I have to fight! I have to fight and win! If I lose, everything will be stolen!'

Yoo Ji-tae forced himself to ignore the sense of powerlessness in his body and closed his eyes. In his vision appeared pitch-black darkness. Stepping into that darkness, he activated body vision acceleration through Sicheonhwandong. Accelerating body vision was also an acceleration of cognitive ability. It was Yoo Ji-tae's own method of maximizing the use of nonexistent time.

As Yoo Ji-tae walked through the pitch-black darkness, a world containing faint light opened before him. Tap. The floor where he stepped began to glow turquoise from that point onward. The mental world was offering praise for its master's return.

'Mental world.'

It was a room every mage possessed within their mind. Ripples spread like waves from the spot where Yoo Ji-tae stood. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Soon, as if surrounding him, countless books rose from the depths. Waves emanated from the books. Yoo Ji-tae confirmed their titles. They were familiar names. Mansangpajigwon-gakbeop, Dismantling Deity Descent Hand Seal, Taeguk Cheonji Mind Method....

In the twilight-filled mental world, only magic served as Yoo Ji-tae's path.

'...This isn't combat right now. If I cut off Lee Ah-rang's arm with the Dismantling Deity Descent Hand Seal, Taeguk Shin-gun will intervene.'

'What I need is a dual cultivation technique. Just one.'

Yoo Ji-tae reached out toward the dual cultivation techniques. The pages of the floating dual cultivation technique flipped rapidly.

'Is there no dual cultivation technique useful in this situation?'

Just then, Yoo Ji-tae stared at one corner of the dual cultivation technique. There was an illustration of a man. A man sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed had children on his stomach. On the next page, those children leaped toward a woman's body and toyed with her insides. Yoo Ji-tae, currently understanding dual cultivation techniques at Level 5, could comprehend the image in an instant.

'Grant personality by visualizing energy.'

If he used this technique, he could organize his yang energy like an army and systematically invade Lee Ah-rang's body.

'...Let's try it.'

Yoo Ji-tae closed his eyes and unfolded the area in contact with Lee Ah-rang before him. It was a virtual battlefield constructed in the form of war representing the current state. Thud. A massive blue woman was crushing a red giant beneath her while absorbing its power. Even as the red giant struggled to escape, its body would not move. Its lower abdomen had been completely crushed and was being devoured by the blue woman.

'He's been completely suppressed. As expected, the only way is to divide and overthrow.'

Yoo Ji-tae extended his hand. 'Divide.'

Then, the red giant, which had only its upper body remaining, flowed down and transformed into ten red soldiers.

'The momentum has already shifted, so to turn the tide, I need to target vital points.'

'The head.'

'Go.'

The ten soldiers charged toward the woman's head. The massive blue woman fell backward and flailed her arms. "Ungh. J-Ji-tae-ya?! W-what is this kiss.... Ungh... Phwah... Hngh...."

Ignoring the sounds from outside, Yoo Ji-tae cheered inwardly. 'I took her down!'

'Next is the heart. And the stomach.'

The soldiers split into two groups and attacked the heart and abdomen respectively. The heart clung to it and gradually eroded its energy, while the abdomen crawled up between her legs and pounded her mercilessly.

"J-Ji-tae-ya!! Not there if you touch it!!"

Lee Ah-rang's cries could be heard from outside the mental world. If Yoo Ji-tae left the battlefield now, all the yang energy that had been divided into ten and controlled would collapse.

'I leave only after subduing Lee Ah-rang.'

"No... no!!! Not there!!! Ji-tae-ya!!! Please!!! Really come out!!!! Come out!!!"

'No. I absolutely cannot lose.'

The ten red soldiers moved as one living creature, toppling the woman and climbing atop her. The flow of mana within Yoo Ji-tae formed a single pathway.

'It has no name because it was born in my hands just now.'

'Since it's a red army, Honggun? No, it needs to be a bit longer.'

After pondering briefly, Yoo Ji-tae decided on a name. 'Hongryeon Sip-in Mind Method.'

Yoo Ji-tae was not the type with talent for naming. He had created it very intuitively to represent ten red humans. Once the name was given, the mind method grew even stronger. The effect manifested immediately. The flow of mana accelerated all at once. The red soldiers changed as well. Their armor became more ornate, and their bodies became more muscular.

'Heat fills my entire body, and breathing feels very comfortable.'

'...Heh.'

'Shall I increase the speed of the offensive?'

'Hongryeon Sip-in Mind Method.'

"J-Ji-tae-ya.... Stop! Stop it...! I'm coming! I'm coming!! I'm already coming!!!"

'Hongryeon Sip-in Mind Method.'

"Hngh. Hic. Ugh. Kkuaaah!"

'Hongryeon Sip-in Mind Method.'

"Hngh, hngh, hngh, hngh, hngh."

'Hongryeon Sip-in Mind Method.'

"Ugh.. uu... uwaaang... I. No... ugh... huuueuu...."

'It seems she's been subdued, so I should head out.'

Yoo Ji-tae emerged from the mental world. Lee Ah-rang, laid on the floor, was covered in tears and sweat as she screamed. Yoo Ji-tae looked at his own hands. One was slapping Lee Ah-rang's chest with his palm, shattering her yin energy. The other was clenched into a fist, pounding her dantian and tormenting her. Lee Ah-rang stretched out her slender legs while crying out.

'Well, as long as I won, that's enough.'

"Are you okay?"

Yoo Ji-tae tapped Lee Ah-rang's stomach with his fist. Her body curled up in an instant. "Ah. No. I'm sensitive right now...."

Yoo Ji-tae turned to the side. Taeguk Shin-gun was sitting with her legs pressed together, watching Yoo Ji-tae and Lee Ah-rang.

"Excuse me?"

"...Ah."

"Did I pass the test?"

Taeguk Shin-gun took a deep breath. 'The scene was so stimulating that I forgot to help and just watched....'

"......Yes. You may continue ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠attending. However, you must be careful of women. Women with malicious intent may do anything, and furthermore, they may even try to obstruct your future path."

"Understood."

Taeguk Shin-gun pulled out a cloth from somewhere and covered Lee Ah-rang's body. Then, after checking Lee Ah-rang's condition, she scratched her cheek and hesitantly spoke.

"...Lee Ah-rang's level remains the same. You didn't steal her power."

"Yes. Since it's a test. There's no reason to do such a thing."

It was because he had not been able to determine whether this test was a trap or an act of goodwill. In any case, Yoo Ji-tae answered that way.

"...I see."

Taeguk Shin-gun smiled faintly.

Taeguk Shin-gun sat demurely before Yoo Ji-tae and began twisting her hair up to insert a hairpin. Then she gazed at Yoo Ji-tae with a relieved look.

"Since you received full marks on the exam, you should receive a reward. If there's anything you need, tell me. Within my reach, I shall grant whatever you desire."

Various things passed through Yoo Ji-tae's mind. Elixirs, magic, and various strengthening materials. But in the end, the Ssangsu Mado Sinche remained.

'This test made it clear. I'm weaker than Lee Ah-rang. My physical specs are lower, and I was pushed back by Lee Ah-rang whose dual cultivation technique level was also lower. Without copying powerful constitutions to strengthen my body, there's no chance of victory.'

Yoo Ji-tae looked at Lee Ah-rang, who was twitching beneath the white cloth.

'With that constitution, even if Lee Ah-rang creates a top-tier martial arts constitution, I could copy it....'

Yoo Ji-tae decided to create the Ssangsu Mado Sinche.