Rebirth of the Thunder God

Having left the family estate, Namgung Hui instantly deployed the Wind God Steps and arrived in Jiangsu Province, where he had arranged to meet Yewol.

Jiangsu Province was just to the right of Anhui Province, so it wasn't that far.

The reason Namgung Hui had Yewol take refuge in a safe house in Jiangsu Province was not for any other reason.

It was because...

'Suzhou is the perfect place for a courtesan like Yewol to hide.'

If Zhejiang Province had Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province had Suzhou.

Suzhou, situated by Lake Tai, had Hangzhou to its south and Shanghai to its east, boasting developed canals and abundant resources.

Not only was the surrounding scenery excellent, but its beautiful gardens also earned it the name "paradise of beauties."

In such a place, there were naturally many gisaeng houses, making it difficult to find a courtesan like Yewol if she were hiding there.

And besides land routes, one could also travel by water, making it easy to slip away.

Namgung Hui arrived in Suzhou and looked down at the bustling streets.

Looking at the crowded people, he felt a new sense of emotion.

Why? In fact, Suzhou was where the Namgung Hui of his past life was born and raised.

Although he had met his master around the age of five or six and left this place, he had lost his parents in his past life and had taken refuge here.

Well, he had lived by begging like a beggar, but still, the memories of this place remained faintly.

'It's a good neighborhood to live in, then and now. The scenery is good and the resources are abundant, so I never went hungry.'

He could fish and eat fish.

He could farm and harvest grain.

Furthermore, with developed land and water routes, one could also succeed greatly in commerce.

It was even closest to the eastern sea, so trading with other countries brought great profits.

In such a Suzhou, Yewol must be eagerly waiting for Namgung Hui.

Of course, it wasn't just because she missed Namgung Hui.

It was because she was waiting for the Golden Tortoise Divine Pill in Namgung Hui's possession.

'She must be waiting because of the curse of the Human-Faced Spider's venom. I heard that the Human-Faced Spider's venom is an extremely painful poison.'

It wasn't the poison of some other venomous creature, but the poison of the Human-Faced Spider, which belonged to the spirit beasts.

Such a poison wouldn't just inflict simple pain.

The skin, cracked like a spider's web, was one of the curses of that Human-Faced Spider's venom.

And the intense pain that periodically dominated her entire body would also be one of the curses she struggled with the most.

To relieve such a curse as soon as possible, Namgung Hui finished his reminiscence and headed to the safe house where he was supposed to meet Yewol.

But strangely, the place Namgung Hui headed to was not the direction of the village, but the center of a wild mountain in the opposite direction.

Why on earth was Namgung Hui, who said he had to treat Yewol as soon as possible, heading into the mountains?

It was because the safe house Namgung Hui mentioned was in the mountains.

'The safe house was a base my master often used when he came out into the secular world.'

The reason Namgung Hui was able to meet his master was also because he was on his way to this safe house.

[Surging Wave Manor]

Surging Wave Manor was one of the safe houses of the Thunder God Sect.

In fact, it was more of a resting place that Namgung Hui's master used when he came out into the secular world.

He said he disliked the city of pleasure, Hangzhou, because it was too noisy, and preferred Suzhou with its good scenery and view of the sea.

It was structured in a way that made it difficult for anyone not permitted to enter, enough to be called a safe house.

Moreover, a dense jungle had formed around it, making it difficult for ordinary people to even approach.

Well, sometimes lovers would sneak in for secret romantic encounters, but a formation was also designed, making it difficult for even a decent martial artist to find the safe house.

If the safe house hadn't been damaged by an earthquake like the Thunder God Sect, the formation would still be firmly protecting it.

Namgung Hui, retracing his memory, skillfully arrived at the safe house.

The safe house was secretly hidden in the middle of a bamboo forest.

The bamboo forest was a place his master called the Lion Grove in honor of his grandmaster.

He said he named it so because his grandmaster's temperament was like that of a lion.

Namgung Hui, who had never even seen his grandmaster in his past life, just accepted it as such.

As he took a deep breath in the Lion Grove, clean air rushed into his lungs.

In a place so quiet and with such clean air, a patient's body is bound to recover somewhat.

The gisaeng house where Yewol had been was, after all, filled with foul odors and various noises, making it difficult for a person to rest.

Namgung Hui deactivated the formation spread across Surging Wave Manor and entered.

Come to think of it, it seemed to be his first visit in almost 90 years.

Since his age in his past life was over forty, it would be reasonable to assume that the current time, 60 years after his death, was well over 90 years.

He had visited for the first time as a child, led by his master's hand, and had never been able to come again.

'Master said that one must cut ties with the secular world to easily immerse oneself in training. But my sworn brother said that one's realm can only be elevated by living together with the secular world.'

His master's teachings and his sworn brother's teachings contradicted each other.

His master was a person who prided himself on having succeeded in ascending to immortality by dedicating himself solely to training.

His sworn brother was not a person who deliberately tried to ascend or move to the next realm.

He just lived as he pleased, enjoying the flow, swinging his sword when he wanted to, and living as his heart desired, and one day he had become the strongest under heaven.

Of course, his talent as a Tri-Auspicious Body played a large part in this, but anyway, his sworn brother's direction was not wrong either.

In that case, by appropriately mixing his master's teachings and his sworn brother's teachings, he planned to become deeply familiar with the secular world in this life.

To do that, he would have to successfully establish and run the Righteous Heaven Alliance.

One of the first steps was the complete recovery and recruitment of Yewol.

Entering the manor, Namgung Hui looked at the pavilion where he could feel a human presence and spoke.

"Yewol. Are you inside?"

Instead of Yewol's answer, a violent coughing sound was heard.

"Cough! Cough!"

Namgung Hui felt the full force of a sick person's energy in her voice, so he burst open the door without even asking for permission.

"Yewol!"

"Cough! Cough!"

She was still unable to answer, only coughing.

A foul-smelling fluid was constantly seeping from her cracked skin, and she was not even properly dressed.

Namgung Hui, realizing that this was not a normal situation, immediately took out the Golden Tortoise Divine Pill and headed towards Yewol.

"I'm going to give you the antidote now. No matter what changes happen to your body, you must not open your mouth. It would be troublesome if the medicinal energy escapes."

A normal martial artist would absorb this medicinal energy through cultivation, but Yewol did not have such a skill.

In that case, Namgung Hui had to properly guide this energy into her body through Ki-Guiding.

In that process, if her mouth opened, the medicinal energy could escape, so she had to keep her mouth firmly shut and focus on her breathing.

Namgung Hui, gazing at Yewol whose eyes were at least still alive, put the Golden Tortoise Divine Pill into her mouth.

Sizzle...

The medicinal energy, which melted in an instant, traveled down Yewol's esophagus and moved to her blood vessels.

The Golden Tortoise Divine Pill did not greatly increase internal energy or advance one's realm, but it was a spirit medicine focused on physical development, such as a long life free of illness.

It was like the sturdy shell of a tortoise.

Inwardly, if Namgung Hui had not seen the effects of the Hwaryeong Divine Pill, he might have coveted the Golden Tortoise Divine Pill.

But now that he had completed Bone Transformation and fully digested the Hwaryeong Divine Pill, he had no need for the effects of the Golden Tortoise Divine Pill.

In that case, he had to let Yewol, who needed the effects of the Golden Tortoise Divine Pill, have this energy completely.

Namgung Hui placed his hand on Yewol's back and spoke in a calm tone.

"Now, a strange energy will rummage through your body. Do not resist it at all and entrust your body to me."

Nod, nod.

As Yewol nodded, Namgung Hui guided the Golden Tortoise Divine Pill with the energy of the Divine Thunder Emperor Art.

In fact, it would have been fine to guide the Ki with the Purple Thunder Divine Art, but since the Purple Thunder Ki was the extreme opposite of poison, he didn't know what would happen inside Yewol's body, which had the Human-Faced Spider's venom.

If that put a great burden on Yewol's body and affected the Golden Tortoise Divine Pill, it would be troublesome, so he chose the Divine Thunder Emperor Art to block as many variables as possible.

-Gooooo...!

The Divine Thunder Emperor Art was also a very excellent heart art.

It was a matter of course, as it was a heart art that combined the Namgung family's heart art, the Purple Thunder Divine Art, and even the Purple Mist Divine Art, so it was bound to be on a different level from ordinary heart arts.

On top of that, Namgung Hui's insights from his past life and his current life were added.

Inwardly, a competitive spirit arose, wondering if it could be compared to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

-Chiiik...!

As the energy of the Golden Tortoise Divine Pill met the Human-Faced Spider's venom, intense heat flared up.

A heat haze shimmered above Yewol's head, and the Human-Faced Spider's venom was devoured by the energy of the Golden Tortoise Divine Pill.

A mere spider could not defeat a tortoise.

People underestimated the tortoise's attack power, but a tortoise's bite force is also quite excellent.

Crunch!

The Human-Faced Spider's venom, once bitten, could not be free from the Golden Tortoise Divine Pill.

As if intending to pull it out by the roots, the Golden Tortoise Divine Pill lifted the Human-Faced Spider's venom up.

Saaaa...

The completely burned energy of the Human-Faced Spider's venom could no longer torment Yewol.

Completely freed from the curse of the Human-Faced Spider's venom, color returned to Yewol's face, and a faint blush appeared.

At the same time, the traces of the spider's web that had spread over her body disappeared, and new flesh began to grow, filling the gaps.

-Thud, thud.

The scarred slough peeled off, changing into a much finer skin.

Just as a chrysalis completes its metamorphosis and becomes a butterfly, the hideous appearance evolved into a beautiful woman.

No. The proper appearance she should have had originally.

Soon, Yewol, who had completed her transformation, slowly opened her eyes and let out a hot breath.

"Haa...! Is it over now?"

"Yes. You've endured well. If I had been even a little late, it would have been a big problem. But didn't Tang Soso say she would give you a neutralizing agent? Why were you in such a state?"

"If you mean 'such a state,' are you talking about me being naked like this?"

Only then did Namgung Hui realize that she was naked and hastily turned around, picking up her clothes.

Then he opened the window and blew away the filth and slough scattered on the floor with a palm strike from a distance.

As the floor became somewhat clean, Namgung Hui handed Yewol her clothes and said.

"Here. Let's get dressed first and talk."

"Fufufu! Pretending not to have seen after seeing everything. How shameless."

"...Stop talking nonsense and get dressed. Or I'm leaving."

"Tsk, tsk. A man getting sulky just because he was teased a little. Your partner is going to have a hard time in the future."

As Namgung Hui really tried to go outside, Yewol finally fumbled to pick up her clothes and put them on.

Rustle. Rustle.

When the sound of silk clothes rustling stopped, Namgung Hui turned around and asked again.

"I asked before, but where is Tang Soso's neutralizing agent, and why were you enduring it all alone with just grit?"

"As you've heard, due to the recent movements of the imperial army, even Tang Soso's feet have been tied. She is currently being chased by an unidentified force."

Namgung Hui narrowed one eye and said.

"If it's an unidentified force, it must be the work of the Hoicheon Association."

"That's what I think too. So, to avoid the safe house being discovered, she's in a situation where she's trying to shake them off. But that wasn't easy either, so she ended up fleeing to another place."

"Where is that?"

Yewol neatly arranged her collar and opened her mouth.

"It's the Zhoushan Archipelago."

(End of Chapter)