Chapter 29
"Are you talking about Miss Mu right now?"
In Agong's memory, Miss Mu was not a vicious person to the extent that the Butterfly Scholar would hate her so much.
Above all, wasn't she the one who had given him Tonglin with Sorin?
"I don't know how you know that monster, but it is a demon wearing human skin. Never get close to it."
"A d-demon?"
"Although there are all sorts of crazy people in the Sea Isle Sect, the Non-Duality Gate is full of things whose identities are unknown, so it's best not to associate with them at all. Hah! What am I saying to a disciple of Tongtian..."
The Butterfly Scholar shook his head as if he found himself absurd.
Agong stood there with a bad feeling, listening to the Butterfly Scholar's self-deprecating voice.
"In any case, let's get out of here together now. If we get out of here, I will repay you sufficiently."
"I don't need any repayment."
Seeing the Butterfly Scholar's current state, if he hoped for a repayment, it would be a perfect time to be struck by lightning from a clear sky for his insolence.
Agong, since it had come to this, had already made up his mind to leave the prison with the Butterfly Scholar.
The Butterfly Scholar was in a mood to leave this place right away, and although Agong was also very tired, he had no intention of resting here.
"Then carry me on your back."
"Can you wait a moment?"
Agong, recalling a thought he had while looking around when the Butterfly Scholar was circulating his energy, took a deep breath and lifted one of the dead dog monster corpses in the surroundings.
"Are you packing emergency food? A good idea. It's a bit disgusting at first, but if you're a martial artist..."
Agong let the Butterfly Scholar's words go in one ear and out the other, and pulled the Heavenly Silkworm Silk, the line of Tonglin, taut, and carefully skinned the dog monster.
Swoosh!
The sharp Heavenly Silkworm Silk smoothly cut through the thick hide of the dog monster.
Agong, with his clumsy hand movements, diligently skinned the dog monster.
The Butterfly Scholar, who had at first thought that he was collecting the dog monster to pack food, could not hide his bewilderment when he saw Agong throw away the skinned dog monster and pick up another one.
Swoosh!
Agong picked up the dead dog monsters and gathered several layers of their hides.
Looking at the pile of dog monster hides, Agong wiped his sweat with a satisfied expression.
"Why on earth are you skinning the dog monsters?"
The Butterfly Scholar could not help but find Agong's behavior strange.
Although the hide of the dog monster was thick and hard, it was not helpful in getting out of here, and there were not many useful things to do with it even within the Hermit's Valley.
"If I sell these guys' hides, it'll be money, right?"
"Well... outside the Hermit's Valley, they would buy it for a considerable price, but... are you saying you're going to sell it outside the Hermit's Valley?"
"Yes, Old Ancestor Hongjun told me to hunt the beasts of the Hermit's Valley and trade with the merchant guild."
"Hongjun? Old Ancestor Hongjun gave such an order to you, a disciple of Tongtian?"
Although Old Ancestor Hongjun's identity was unknown and he was arrogant, he also had a line that he kept.
Agong, looking at the thick dog monster hides, thought for a moment, then tore his sleeve, tied it, and hung it at his waist.
"I'm a waiter at the Mountain Sea Tavern."
"What?"
"I'm staying at the Mountain Sea Tavern as a waiter."
The Butterfly Scholar, while clinging to Agong who had come up to him and offered his back, looked at the back of his head with a dumbfounded expression.
'What on earth is this all about?'
Agong, with the Butterfly Scholar on his back, a bundle of dog monster hides at his waist, a basket on his chest, and Tonglin in one hand, staggered towards the exit.
Although it was an action that looked extremely foolish on the outside, Agong seemed to have no intention of giving up any of them.
'Don't tell me... did Hongjun bring him?'
If so, it made sense that the Manifest Demon True Art was not complete, even though he had received Tongtian's tutelage.
It was clear that he had received Tongtian's tutelage late.
"But how do you use your martial arts?"
Agong, while moving his heavy feet, asked the Butterfly Scholar who was on his back, as if a question had arisen.
The prisoners of the prison are abandoned here with their dantians broken.
According to Tongtian, the strange martial art that the Butterfly Scholar used was not easily explained.
"Are you curious?"
"A little."
If he couldn't tell him, he had no intention of listening.
He had just started a conversation because it was boring to walk quietly through the long, dark cave.
"The dantian is originally divided into three parts, and they are called the upper dantian, the middle dantian, and the lower dantian. I can accumulate qi not only in the lower dantian, where ordinary martial artists accumulate qi, but also in the middle dantian."
The Butterfly Scholar, perhaps because it was his secret, revealed it without hesitation.
He couldn't find a reason to hide it from Agong, as he was already in this state.
"The middle dantian?"
"Yes, that's why I was able to use my martial arts even though my dantian was broken."
Although he couldn't use his martial arts completely because he was overusing his middle dantian, and a severe pain followed, he had no intention of explaining such parts to Agong.
"There are three dantians?"
"If you reach the state of a supreme master, not only the lower dantian you are using now, but also the blood and qi of the Yutang acupoint will open, and the middle dantian will grow. But even here in the Hermit's Valley, the number of supreme masters who have opened their middle dantian can be counted on one hand."
"Then are you also such a master, Scholar?"
Hearing Agong's excited voice, the Butterfly Scholar trailed off.
"Although I was called a supreme master in the martial world... I had not completely opened my middle dantian. I probably reached the end of it."
"Then who are the supreme masters you mentioned?"
"The Twelve Honored Ones of the World."
They were the absolute masters, regardless of righteousness or evil, whom Agong had heard of the most since he had stayed in the Hermit's Valley.
The Four Unrivaled Swords, the sword demons of the world.
The Three Demons, the absolute masters of the demonic path.
The Two Immortals, the half-immortals who had not achieved ascension.
The Living Buddha, the incarnation of a living Buddha.
The Two Emperors, the kings of the east and west, the black path and the white path.
Although Agong didn't know, it was also a surprising thing that he had already met three of the twelve masters, whom martial artists would have a hard time meeting even one in their lifetime.
"They really don't look like that, though."
"Hehe. Is that so?"
"Yes."
As if his mood had improved at Agong's words, the Butterfly Scholar continued his words.
"I am from the Tang Clan. The Tang Clan is a family that is skilled in martial arts that use poison."
The Butterfly Scholar, for some reason, had realized that Agong did not know much about the martial world.
"When I was young, I achieved the accumulation of the middle dantian early with the secret art of the poison man that I received from my family. Now that my lower dantian is broken, it is natural that I cannot accumulate qi, but I am displaying my martial arts using my middle dantian."
"What's a poison man?"
"A living incarnation of poison... a human weapon that can turn poison into medicine and medicine into poison, is not harmed by swords, and whose blood and flesh are the most deadly weapons."
Agong, hearing the Butterfly Scholar's words, stood up straight.
"Is that a poison man?"
If so, it meant that he was now carrying a dangerous lump of poison on his back.
The Butterfly Scholar, noticing Agong's feelings, snorted and hugged Agong's neck even more.
"You brat, if I were a proper poison man, do you think I would have been here in this state?"
"Th-that's right?"
Led by the Butterfly Scholar's hand, which was hanging on his neck and urging him on, Agong, with a bad feeling, moved his feet again like a donkey.
"It's been over a decade since I left my family... by now, a real 'poison man' might have been created."
The Butterfly Scholar thought of his half-brother, Tang Yizheng.
By now, he would have become the head of the Tang Clan, and unlike himself, he would be devoting his efforts to achieving the long-cherished wish of the family.
'Come to think of it... before I entered the Hermit's Valley, my sister-in-law said she was pregnant with a nephew.'
For Tang Yizheng, who had no heir at an old age despite being the head of the family, there would have been no greater joy.
The Butterfly Scholar felt a lingering regret that he had ignored the invitation to the Tang Clan at that time and had entered the Hermit's Valley.
The nephew he had never seen suddenly appeared before his eyes.
Although he had turned his back on his family, the affection of blood was a scary thing.
Even though he had gone astray even more because he knew that the Tang Clan wanted his martial prowess, how much had he regretted not being able to meet his nephew while he was imprisoned?
It was a martial art that would be forgotten when he died anyway.
Since he had no disciples or children, there was nothing more desirable than for his blood relative to carry on the lineage of his martial arts.
"I have a favor to ask of you."
"Again?"
Agong pouted his lips as the Butterfly Scholar, who had been quiet, asked for a favor.
"I don't know if I can live for sure even if I get out of here, so I'm asking you for a favor."
"Haa... tell me..."
The Butterfly Scholar, as Agong stopped his feet, took out a worn-out plaque from his pocket and handed it to Agong.
"What's this?"
"If you get out of the Hermit's Valley, give this plaque to the child of a person named Tang Yizheng in the Sichuan Tang Clan."
"Tang Yizheng?"
"The child of Tang Yizheng! My nephew. You must give it to the child of Tang Yizheng, not Tang Yizheng or anyone else."
Although it was good to carry on the lineage of his martial arts and the affection of blood was good, even if someone laughed at him for being a twisted person, he had no intention of giving his unique martial art, the Heaven and Earth Fist, to Tang Yizheng.
Agong let out a big sigh as he received a very complicated request.
"What if he says he won't accept it?"
"Then you can burn it or keep it, as you wish."
"I don't need such a dirty plaque..."
Agong, while retorting bluntly, kept the plaque that the Butterfly Scholar had given him in his pocket.
Although he didn't know if he could get out of the Hermit's Valley, he was planning to grant the Butterfly Scholar's request if he had the chance in the future.
"Thank you... you are truly pure for a disciple of Tongtian."
"Is that a compliment?"
"For a martial artist, it's a flaw. Since you've granted my request, I should repay you."
Agong, startled by the suspicious energy rising from behind him, tried to react, but something, like lightning, flowed down his spine to his tailbone. He felt a shock.
"Ack!"
Agong, with a final scream, fell down awkwardly on the spot.
As if repaying a kindness with enmity, he didn't know what the Butterfly Scholar had done from behind, but his whole body got the creeps, his fine hair stood on end, and his heart began to pound.
"Don't be a baby."
The Butterfly Scholar raised his body with both arms and then coldly said to Agong, who had his nose buried in the dirt.
"What did you do!"
"I opened the path of your middle dantian. This kind of opportunity is something that even that great Tongtian can't do for you, so you should be grateful."
He could hear his heart pounding like crazy in his ears.
Agong, who had raised his body, urgently took a deep breath in and out.
He was even worried that his heart might burst like this.
"You're not a frog, so don't just foolishly breathe out. Slowly circulate your energy and accumulate it according to the blood and qi I tell you."
"Grr."
Agong, having no choice, sat cross-legged and began to circulate his energy according to the Nine Gates True Scripture.
Soon, the Butterfly Scholar's voice was naturally heard in Agong's ears. He told him the martial arts secret formula and the blood vessels to move his internal energy in order.
As he circulated his energy according to the Butterfly Scholar's words, a hot heat emanated from his skin, and he felt a stuffiness in his middle dantian.
Soon, as the energy of the Nine Gates True Scripture, which exuded a clear energy, spread to his chest, a faint light emanated from his whole body, and he felt a vitality in his whole body as if he had circulated his internal energy throughout his body with energy circulation.
"If you try to forcefully break through the stuffiness in your chest now, you will immediately fall into qi deviation and become a cripple."
Agong, at the Butterfly Scholar's warning, immediately stopped the action of trying to tap the stuffiness in his chest with the energy that was gathering in his chest like a thread.
Agong's face, who had finished circulating his energy, was flushed red, but his complexion was even stronger.
"Although it's not as effective as my Crouching Frog Art, it will be of great help when you accumulate qi in the future. It will be even more so if you step on the path of a supreme master..."
Although Agong did not like the process, he could clearly tell that the Butterfly Scholar had given him an opportunity.
"Do you have to tell me in this way?"
"Does luck only come in the way you want?"
Agong grumbled and put the Butterfly Scholar on his back again.
"But didn't you say there were three dantians in total?"
"The upper dantian is not something that humans practice."
"What?"
"If you open that, you will be caught by a ghost or a god."
"I don't know what you mean."
"You either die or shed your human shell. Do you want me to help you?"
Both were chilling things to hear.
Agong shut his mouth and quickened his steps.
(End of Chapter)