Rebirth of the Thunder God

"Kiik. Kiik. (My detection ability doesn't work. I feel like someone is blocking it.)"

At Chichi's failure, Namgung Hui frowned, and Gwon Cheong looked on with a curious face.

And the single-horned snake behind them slowly nodded with a curve on its lips.

"It seems to be the first time your ability hasn't worked."

"Kiik. Kkik. (This has happened before.)"

"When was that?"

"Kiik? Kkik. (About 30 years ago? I don't know the cause either. I was weak then.)"

"And you still don't know the cause?"

"Kkik. (Yeah.)"

This was quite a predicament.

It was a good opportunity to see Chichi's performance for a change, but to think that Chichi's ability was blocked.

On one hand, he was also worried that Chichi's ability might be blocked when he went to the imperial palace's secret repository.

Because the imperial palace would be a place with many amazing treasures and geniuses.

"It seems you've come up empty-handed, what are you going to do now?"

"Isn't it your job to guide me?"

Gwon Cheong continued with an embarrassed expression.

"Usually, that would be the case, but after seeing your ability, I wonder if I really need to. Well, if there's no other way, I'll think of a way."

It wasn't that Namgung Hui had no way.

The orthodox method was to have a head-on confrontation with force.

Namgung Hui would take the lead, and if there was anything blocking him, he would just destroy it.

Whether it was a spirit beast or whatever.

"I'll just take the lead and walk. After all, we just have to reach the high peak, don't we?"

"That's right. From this middle part, there's no reason to get lost. Because it's the center."

He just had to walk, using the peak as a landmark, just like when he came to the Blood Cult.

He would just have to avoid the cliffs and poisonous lands in between.

Namgung Hui also had the ability to detect poison.

And as for the cliffs, if he enhanced his vision with the telescope, there would be no big problem.

Although it would be somewhat cumbersome, since Chichi's ability was neutralized, he had no choice.

"Then I'll be off."

After finishing his words, Namgung Hui put Chichi back in his robes and moved his steps.

Perhaps because Chichi was gone.

The single-horned snake's movements looked particularly light.

Perhaps because they were getting closer to the peak, the slope became particularly steep, and it gradually became difficult to breathe.

He tried to adjust his pace to Gwon Cheong's, but in the end, he had no choice but to stop after a short while.

"Huk, huk. As expected, it's hard to breathe as the altitude gets higher. Aren't you out of breath?"

"Would a martial artist be out of breath from just this much mountain climbing? But strangely, even though we've come this deep, I don't see any wild animals or other spirit beasts."

An hour had passed since they had reached the middle part.

It was only natural that there should be traces of living creatures, as well as footprints or tracks.

But for some reason, the mountain path was excessively clean.

It was in its natural state?

Not to mention traces of spirit beasts, even the appearance of common wild animals was not seen.

Gwon Cheong, who had caught his breath, brought up a guess.

"I think a great spirit beast has settled down around here. Because of that spirit beast, not only the mediocre spirit beasts around, but also the wild animals are instinctively avoiding the place."

As if to add certainty to Gwon Cheong's guess, the single-horned snake nodded.

"Why did you stay quiet all this time when you knew that?"

"Kiing..."

The single-horned snake's expression was like, 'When did you ask?'

Leaving the wronged-looking single-horned snake behind, Namgung Hui moved his steps again.

If it was such a great spirit beast, it would either be detected by his electric field, or it would feel Namgung Hui's presence and approach him.

It wouldn't be too late to judge when he encountered it then.

"..."

It was quiet, without even the chirping of mountain birds.

Only the humid jungle wind tickled his ears.

Looking up at the pouring sunlight, Namgung Hui gauged the time.

'It should be normal to reach the peak soon, but I feel like the progress is slow. Is it because I'm matching Gwon Cheong's pace? Still, it's unusually slow.'

Anyway, there was still quite a distance to go to reach Qilin Peak.

Still, since the sun was still in the middle of the sky, it seemed they would arrive within today.

If it really didn't work out, they could just spend a night at the campsite and climb up again.

Because he had marked the path on the way up.

"Let's eat lunch soon. It will probably be difficult to eat as we go deeper inside."

Although Namgung Hui was fine, the poisonous ki that was gradually felt in the air would make it difficult to breathe.

Moreover, food intake would obviously be restricted.

Because even a master fights well only when his stomach is full.

Namgung Hui nodded, sat on a rock, and took out a rice ball.

At the sight of the rough rice ball, Gwon Cheong chuckled and said.

"Hahaha. It seems you're not good at everything. Your skill in making rice balls is quite clumsy."

"I didn't make this."

"Then who made such a rough rice ball?"

"The friend I mentioned earlier made it. I was originally going to procure food from the mountains, but my friend insisted that I take it, so I brought it."

"You have a pretty good friend. As expected, the friendship between men is strong. Aam."

Namgung Hui let out a hollow laugh at Gwon Cheong's mistake.

Since he was always wrong, it wasn't even that funny anymore.

On one hand, it was also amazing how he could be an herb gatherer with such a bad sense.

'To say it's a man's friendship about the naturally feminine Seolhwa. Even Seolhwa would laugh if she heard it, right?'

Well, it wasn't that he didn't understand Gwon Cheong's misunderstanding.

Because the appearance of the rice ball that Beak Seolhwa had made was not very good to look at.

But the taste was amazing.

Perhaps because he had gotten wild boar meat from Muchi, the rice was full of meat.

He had sniped Namgung Hui's taste like the Sun-Shooting One?

This time, since Namgung Hui had received a rice ball, he resolved to treat her to a meal next time and chewed and swallowed the rice ball.

And so, when Namgung Hui, who had finished his meal, was wiping the grease from his hands.

It was small, but there was a presence that was clearly heard in his ear.

The distance was about 30 zhang away.

It was still a far distance if it was far, but seeing the speed of its approach, it seemed it would arrive without taking too long.

As Namgung Hui hardened his expression and stared ahead, Gwon Cheong, who was eating, patted his chest and said.

"Keokkeok! Why are you suddenly setting the mood like that while eating? I almost choked because of you."

"Something is coming. And at a very fast speed. Just in case, please step back."

At Namgung Hui's warning, Gwon Cheong also hardened his expression and hid behind the single-horned snake.

And the single-horned snake, also scared of the approaching being, cowered behind a rock with Gwon Cheong.

Sasasasak!

The being that had approached quickly did not even think of hiding its presence, and it boldly revealed its presence and jumped out from the bushes.

"Roar...!!"

The appearance that appeared with a fierce roar was a tiger with blue stripes.

A size that looked at least three times larger than the tiger that had fought the single-horned snake before.

Not only that, but the blue stripes were a sight he was seeing for the first time in his life, so it was extremely mysterious.

Namgung Hui was suddenly reminded of a certain spirit beast at the sight of such a tiger.

"A blue tiger?"

[That's right.]

"!?

Namgung Hui was quite bewildered, not only by the identity of the blue tiger, but also by the fact that he could even communicate with it.

On top of that, the hostility felt from the blue tiger added to that bewilderment, making it even more absurd.

"Alright. Blue tiger. Why are you showing hostility towards us?"

[Are you asking because you don't know? To invade someone else's territory and then feign ignorance, as expected, humans are shameless animals.]

"Invasion? We're just passing through the mountain path towards the summit."

[Then you should pass quietly. Why are you spreading a foul smell here and there?]

"A foul smell? Not a fragrant smell?"

Namgung Hui smelled the lingering scent of the rice ball on his hand.

Even smelling it again, it was so fragrant that it made his mouth water.

It even seemed to have a faint floral scent.

He wanted to extend his hand to the blue tiger and let it smell, but if he did that, it would surely bite his hand.

The blue tiger looked at Namgung Hui's appearance, shook its head, and said.

[I'm not talking about you, but the human hiding behind you. The smell of rot is vibrating.]

Only then did Namgung Hui also flare his nostrils and follow the smell.

And a strange smell was detected from Gwon Cheong's two hands.

A smell as if something had rotted.

The blue, square object in his hand was reminiscent of tofu.

But why on earth did tofu have such a smell?

'Isn't it really rotten tofu?'

"Mister. What on earth is that tofu? Why does it have such a smell...?"

"Ahem! This is a food I recently developed, and it's called stinky tofu. It's a dish that's quite popular within the Blood Cult. Would you like to try some?"

[So you were a human who made poison. How dare you try to sprinkle poison in my territory? I won't leave you alone!]

It seemed the blue tiger had a big misunderstanding.

It seemed to have mistaken the newly developed food for poison that he was trying to manufacture and sprinkle.

Well, since Namgung Hui also understood the blue tiger's feelings, he scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

Still, he couldn't just watch Gwon Cheong be defeated by the blue tiger.

As the blue tiger leaped, the surprised Gwon Cheong hurriedly threw the stinky tofu in his hand.

[Th-this! You really sprinkle poison on me? Roar!]

Still, the good thing was that the blue tiger, surprised by the smell of the stinky tofu, stopped its leap and moved its body back.

But now the stinky tofu had fallen to the ground, and nothing was left in Gwon Cheong's hand.

-Pat!

The blue tiger disappeared from its spot as if it had been extinguished.

As expected of a top-level spirit beast among spirit beasts.

Gwon Cheong, who didn't know martial arts, was chasing only the afterimage, not even knowing that the blue tiger had disappeared.

-Kang!

A sharp friction sound was heard from behind Gwon Cheong's head.

The startled Gwon Cheong fell on his butt.

And when he raised his head, Namgung Hui's sword and the blue tiger's claw were touching where his head had been.

If he had been a little careless, he would have been torn to shreds by that huge claw.

"That thing called stinky tofu. It's not poison. It's rather close to food."

[Hmph! If it's food, it's food. What do you mean, close? Don't tell me you also eat poison?]

"That's not it, it's probably just one of human dishes. Probably."

[Why do you keep adding footnotes without being sure? Then you try eating it!]

"How can I eat something that has fallen on the ground?"

[You're a really full human. You must be saying that because you can still take my attack.]

In fact, it wasn't that Namgung Hui couldn't eat the stinky tofu because it had fallen on the ground.

It was the foul smell that the blue tiger had mistaken for poison.

Namgung Hui also didn't have the courage to overcome that stench and bring it to his mouth.

He felt it would be much easier to subdue the blue tiger by force and clear up the misunderstanding.

'It's a strong spirit beast for sure. But it's not to the point where I can't subdue it.'

The blue tiger's claws contained an energy comparable to an aura.

The tiger's outstanding reflexes and overwhelming strength.

On top of that, its weapon was not just its claws, but also its large teeth.

Its weapons were four paws and one mouth.

Unlike humans, its irregular and diverse attacks were on a different level from systematic martial arts.

Even now, the extending claws contained a trajectory that a human could not imitate.

-Hwiiik!!

A huge claw that cut through the empty air and passed by.

It was shattering an innocent tree.

Perhaps because Namgung Hui was avoiding it better than expected, the blue tiger scraped its claws on the ground and let out a cry.

[Krrreung...! Human. You're as nimble as a small squirrel. Let's see if you can block this too.]

The blue tiger climbed a large tree and hid itself.

As it even hid its huge presence, the surroundings became quiet.

"..."

Everyone held their breath and waited for the blue tiger to appear.

When the gazes of Namgung Hui's party were on the tree.

-Peoeoong!

Suddenly, the ground exploded, and rocks scattered in all directions.

-Tadadadang!

The blue tiger, which had disappeared above the tree.

Suddenly shot up from under the ground.

He was just puzzled as to what kind of strange technique it had used.

But Namgung Hui, as if he had seen through that strange technique, opened his mouth with a faint smile.

"It's a spirit beast that can use the art of clones. To send a clone up a tree and hide the main body under the ground. It's quite a clever spirit beast."

[To even block this. You're no ordinary human. Then this is the last blow. If you receive this too, I will let you go obediently.]

"That's a nice proposal for a change. Come."

Suk. Suk. Suk. Suk. Suk.

The clones increased to five, and a total of six blue tigers surrounded Namgung Hui.

Some hid themselves in the trees again, and some circled Namgung Hui, drawing his attention.

And so, one of the loitering blue tigers threw itself at Namgung Hui.

Since they all contained spirit ki, it was difficult to distinguish between the clones and the real body.

-Pat!

As expected, the first attack was a clone.

As Namgung Hui's sword cut through the clone in vain, this time, another presence was felt from behind.

-Kang!

This time, it was the main body.

At the powerful repulsion, Namgung Hui's body was pushed back slightly.

And as if it had been waiting for this, another clone rushed at Namgung Hui.

At first, Namgung Hui was about to ignore the clone, which had no real body, but for some reason, he felt he shouldn't, so he used his left hand to shoot a thunderclap palm with the Two-Forms Heart Method.

-Peoeong!!!

With the sound of leather bursting, another blue tiger rolled on the ground.

[Keoheoheong!!!]

A painful cry filled the jungle.

Don't tell me that was also the main body, it didn't seem to be a simple art of clones.

"Can it even split its real body? Or can it switch places with a clone?"

The moment the clone was about to reach Namgung Hui, the main body in front of him instantly pulled its body back.

Perhaps it had moved its body back in case Namgung Hui noticed before it switched places.

Well, in the end, since Namgung Hui had noticed, it had become a meaningless action.

The blue tiger, which had been hit by the thunderclap palm, got up from the ground and let out a cry.

[You're a human who performs a strange martial art...! I admit my defeat.]

"Then can I go up the mountain now?"

[That's right. But be sure to retrieve that thing called stinky tofu.]

Namgung Hui nodded and walked towards the stinky tofu with a reluctant expression.

He wanted to ask Gwon Cheong, but he, who was thoroughly scared of the blue tiger, had already lost strength in his legs and looked powerless.

Having no choice, Namgung Hui closed his eyes tightly and was about to pick up the stinky tofu.

-Hwaaaak!

A presence so huge that it was overwhelming rushed in.

It wasn't just Namgung Hui who felt it, as even the blue tiger stepped back and let out a cry.

[Blood Qilin...!]

"!!!"

At the shocking word, Namgung Hui also froze on the spot.

(End of Chapter)