Chapter 120
It's something I occasionally think about—martial artists often have a poorer imagination compared to others.
That’s because, the higher one’s level becomes, the more problems they can solve with strength alone.
If your body is strong, there’s little reason to use your head.
But that’s only a tendency, not an absolute rule.
Before the regression, the martial artists of the Zhuge Clan and the Sama Clan wracked their brains to buy time against the Demonic Cult, and now, the Bloodflame Fist Demon—who revealed himself from so far away that even Seo Mun-Hwarin’s qi perception couldn’t reach—was doing the same.
Flames erupted from the tiny, distant silhouette. Without that fire, we might not have even realized it was him.
KWAANG!
“W-What was that?!”
Seol Lihyang jumped to her feet mid-conversation, startled by the explosion echoing from afar.
A quick glance told me the other boats were in similar confusion. Not because they were frightened by the Bloodflame Fist Demon’s attack—but because of its consequences.
He must’ve prepared in advance—he brought down the embankment we had passed in a single blow.
At the same time, the contents of a small reservoir, previously blocked by the embankment, poured into the river.
Ka-ga-ga-kak!
The surge of earth and rock, unleashed from the collapsing sides the Bloodflame Fist Demon hadn’t yet destroyed, overturned the once-calm river.
Perhaps to avoid Seo Mun-Hwarin’s detection, he did this from a considerable distance—but that didn’t mean we had the luxury to leisurely dock and escape.
Someone like Seo Mun-Hwarin or myself could manage to avoid it, but the others wouldn’t be so lucky.
Of course, it wasn’t likely anyone would die just from this debris flow.
As intense as it looked, it wasn’t quite at the scale of a full landslide. Besides Seol Lihyang, everyone else had martial strength beyond Peak Stage, and their bodies were strong.
As long as they avoided drowning, they should be fine. And Seol Lihyang was right next to me, so I’d protect her no matter what.
But that’s only if things go well.
If we made a mistake… I didn’t want to imagine what could happen.
Even if no one died, severe injuries were more than likely.
And it wasn’t just us. There were the fishermen we’d brought from the previous village as guides and rowers, and the captured Demonic Cultists. Most of them wouldn’t survive.
Seo Mun-Hwarin must have had the same thought. She scowled and shouted loudly:
“Everyone, hold on tightly to the boats so you don’t get thrown off!”
A surprising order. Not to disperse and escape, but to cling to the boats?
As if she intended to hold it off head-on.
And shockingly, she was right.
Seo Mun-Hwarin unleashed her vast internal energy without restraint and struck toward the approaching debris flow with a fist glowing red from qi energy.
Puhhng!
Her punch, formed purely from condensed qi, crushed the surging earth and stones, splitting even the river to reveal its bottom for a brief moment.
But that only pushed back the debris flow for now.
So Seo Mun-Hwarin didn’t stop.
Puhhng! Puhhng! Puhhng!
There was no finesse in her movements. She simply threw her fists as fast and as hard as she could.
And that alone was enough. Her punches shattered the furious debris flow head-on.
The rocks and dirt lost their momentum and began to sink. The water, previously held back, split around us and flowed harmlessly past.
It was like watching someone defy the laws of nature with sheer human power.
But the moment of awe didn’t last.
Though Seo Mun-Hwarin blocked most of the debris flow, a problem arose at the final moment.
The redirected water surged and rolled back in waves, making the boat rock violently.
And as she stood on unstable footing, pouring all her power into her fists, her punch skewed—just slightly.
Ordinarily, that wouldn’t be an issue. But with such overwhelming force clashing, even the smallest mistake could lead to disaster.
In simple terms, Seo Mun-Hwarin’s punch barely missed, and a chunk of debris and rushing current came crashing straight toward my boat.
There wasn’t enough time to jump to a nearby vessel. Jumping higher would mean more time spent suspended midair.
There was no choice.
“Cheon Hwi!”
Seo Mun-Hwarin turned toward me with a panicked expression, but I shook my head and drew my sword.
“Don’t worry. Just focus on your part.”
We’d nearly blocked the whole thing. It’d be a waste to make a mistake now.
I poured all my inner energy into the Raging Wave Death-Stealing Art and swung my sword.
Ssskuk.
The blood-red flame of my sword sliced cleanly through the boulder barreling toward me, splitting it in two and parting the rushing current behind it.
Though I couldn’t match Seo Mun-Hwarin’s power, I’d seen enough of her to replicate at least this much.
“Oof.”
Maybe because I sliced rather than smashed, the two split rocks didn’t fly off completely. One grazed the end of the boat.
KWAJIK!
A sharp cracking sound as one side of the boat was torn open. The violent water surged through the gap and, before I could react—
The boat rocked hard.
Just as I pulled Seol Lihyang into my arms—
The boat could no longer hold. It capsized completely, and the current swept us away.
A chilling cold seized my whole body. I unknowingly inhaled river water through my nose. I caught a glimpse of our little boat growing distant.
That’s when I realized—
Seol Lihyang and I had been separated from the others.
“Puhah!”
I gasped for breath and threw myself onto the welcoming land.
While helplessly swallowing water, my foot happened to hit something. I didn’t miss the chance—kicked off it with all my strength and crawled ashore.
Anyone watching might’ve likened me to a fish leaping from the river.
“Ugh.”
I gagged out the mud and river water I’d gulped. My vision cleared.
Once I regained my senses, I checked the unconscious Seol Lihyang in my arms.
“She’s… still breathing.”
She must’ve just passed out from the shock. At a glance, she didn’t appear to be seriously injured.
With a sigh of relief, I sent qi through every part of my body to assess my condition.
Unlike Seol Lihyang, I’d taken some hits, but I had used internal energy to protect myself, so other than some bruises, I had no serious injuries.
It hurt, sure—but I could move.
I stood up and looked around.
“…I have no idea where we are.”
The only clear thing was that there were no signs of human habitation nearby, and a short distance away, there was a gap between some rocks.
Sighing again, I picked up the unconscious Seol Lihyang and carried her to the spot I had seen.
It was just large enough for two people to fit. Damp, buggy—not a place to stay long.
But I couldn’t let her stay soaked. This would have to do for now.
First, I released a light wave of killing intent around the area.
Soon, bugs and small animals began fleeing. That should keep them away for a while.
After laying Seol Lihyang down gently, I drew my sword and used concentrated sword qi to slice off part of a nearby rock.
I hammered the cut piece into the floor of the crevice to create a rough platform where she could lie more comfortably.
Then I gathered some dry grass and branches, lit a small fire a little away from the entrance, and angled it so that the smoke would drift out while the heat stayed in.
With that, I finally laid Seol Lihyang down inside and sat back, leaning against the wall.
I took off my soaked shirt and draped it over a protruding rock to dry.
I guess I’d grown accustomed to roughing it—this was surprisingly manageable.
“Phew...”
As I exhaled, the tension left my body. While my body was still relaxed, I adjusted my posture and began circulating my qi to recover.
I didn’t have any major internal or external injuries—just too much qi expended.
I had used internal energy constantly to protect my body during the entire drift.
How long had I stayed in meditation like that?
I hadn’t let my guard down, so I could still feel faint movements around me.
I paused my breathing technique and opened my eyes.
There, Seol Lihyang was slowly regaining consciousness.
“Khak! Khak... bwuaaagh!”
Just like I had, she coughed a few times and vomited out a good deal of water.
After wiping her mouth with her sleeve as if nothing had happened, Seol Lihyang blankly looked my way.
Her eyes were unfocused, like someone just waking up. But it didn’t last long.
Like light shining through murky water, her eyes quickly regained clarity—and settled right on my bare chest.
“W-What?! Why are you undressed?!”
Flushed red, she panicked. Her eyes darted, arms flailed, voice trembled.
It was obvious what kind of misunderstanding she was having.
Frankly, it was amusing, so I decided to let her play it out.
“I mean… I wouldn’t never consider it, but there’s a proper order to things, right? I should settle things with Sister Tang first, and there’s still a lot we need to do, so doing this now is a bit…”
Mumbling nonsense, Seol Lihyang looked around—and finally realized something was off.
“Where are we?”
“Tell me what else you think we ‘should do’ first, and I’ll tell you.”
“Eiit!”
She shot up, still bright red, and began furiously smacking my head.
She didn’t hit hard—more like harmless swats.
“Forget it! Forget everything you saw and heard just now!!”
“Unfortunately, I have a very good memory. I’ll probably remember this even after dying and being reborn.”
“Kyaaaah!”
Even if I fail to defeat the Heavenly Demon and regress once more, I doubt I could ever forget this moment with Seol Lihyang.
That was all I meant—yet for some reason, she screamed and shook my shoulders like crazy.
I let her for a moment, then gently placed my hand over hers.
“Calm down.”
“I can’t! I’d rather bite my tongue and die here before Sister Tang finds out!”
“She won’t kill you.”
“You don’t know that! If it were me, I’d be so annoying about it!”
…Ah.
I recalled the Seol Lihyang from before the regression. After spending the night together, she’d slowly approach and give me side-eyes if I so much as talked to another woman.
The only exception was Seo Mun-Hwarin—maybe. Even then, when we sparred late into the night, she would wait in my room to see when I came back.
Smiling wryly, I gently lowered her hand and wrapped both of mine around it.
“It’s alright. Calm down.”
“Ugh!”
Seol Lihyang glared as if asking how I could stay calm. I continued, still holding her hand.
“Do you remember what happened? When the Bloodflame Fist Demon’s trap made us fall into the river.”
“That... yeah, I remember. I clearly recall clinging to you for dear life so I wouldn’t be swept away. But after that, it’s a blur. What happened?”
“Not much. You must’ve hit your head—just passed out for a bit. We ended up here by luck. I don’t know exactly where, but it’s clear there are no people nearby.”
“Passing out doesn’t sound like ‘not much’... but okay. I guess if we keep going downriver, we’ll find something. Our destination was downstream anyway.”
“You’re right. A river this big must have at least one or two villages that rely on it.”
“But...?”
“There’s just one concern.”
“That the Bloodflame Fist Demon might know we got separated.”
Judging by his past behavior, he would definitely try to find us and take us hostage.
He couldn’t beat Seo Mun-Hwarin, so he’d likely try to make a deal—us, in exchange for Peng Woojin and Yeon Ga-hye.
In the Demonic Cult, completing the mission matters more than a comrade’s life.
If it were any other enemy, I might have simply vowed to cut them down if they dared target us—but the opponent is the Bloodflame Fist Demon.
He had remained just short of Sub-Perfection for years, so there shouldn’t be much difference between now and before the regression.
But even back then, when I was stronger than I am now, I never once had the upper hand against him.
I had no intention of going down easily—but if you asked whether I could win, honestly, he was a difficult foe.
With all these thoughts spinning in my head, my mouth moved on its own, expressing what I truly felt.
“…How about we just live in hiding for a while?”
“Wha—huh?! Wh-What?!”
Seol Lihyang made a strange noise, like a machine malfunctioning.