Chapter 17
Chapter 17
Pshhhh…….
As white vapor poured out from inside his mouth, Youngho’s eyes opened.
Youngho spoke with a satisfied smile as he felt the internal energy settled in his dantian.
“Now this finally feels like proper internal energy.”
Horyeung, who had been standing guard as his Guardian, approached Youngho and asked,
“Was it a great attainment?”
“Why bother asking that?”
“It is because I cannot see it with my own eyes.”
“You can become like this too.”
“For you to say that, Fifth Young Master, when you saw through my essence almost instantly.”
“Practice is all it takes. And this time, only the quantity of internal energy increased, so there wasn’t much achievement.”
“I see.”
“Then let’s clean up this woman’s corpse.”
“Yes.”
Originally, this was work meant for maids, but neither Youngho nor Horyeung said anything as they cleaned up the body themselves.
If it were anyone else, perhaps it would not have mattered, but the two of them cared for Sopyung in their own way and did not want a child who had not even come of age to witness such a scene.
Thinking that way made Horyeung even more curious about Youngho.
No matter that he was a martial artist, Youngho was still at an age where he should have felt revulsion toward corpses.
But look at those eyes. As Youngho lifted Hong Gakjeong’s arm as if he had done this hundreds, thousands of times before, his gaze remained utterly calm.
There was no emotional fluctuation at all, to the point that it even felt slightly alien.
‘No matter how much I ask, he probably won’t answer.’
In truth, Horyeung had conducted his own investigation into Youngho. What he learned was not much, and even that was overly simple.
He had joined a small squad while training to become a martial artist of the Unorthodox Alliance, caught Cheonung’s eye, and became his disciple.
Before that, no one knew where he had lived, but it was said that Youngho had been unable to walk with his shoulders squared not only there, but even within the Unorthodox Alliance itself.
‘But does that really look like someone who couldn’t even hold his head high?’
The Youngho Horyeung was seeing now was vastly different from the rumors, as if another person’s soul had taken over his body.
Lost in stray thoughts, Horyeung moved his hands busily, and soon the cleanup was perfectly finished.
“There’s still the scent of blood lingering.”
“That can’t be helped.”
“At this level, Sopyung probably won’t be startled.”
Youngho immediately called out to Sopyung.
“Sopyung! You can come out now!”
At that, a young maid came running toward Youngho at full speed, limping slightly.
“Young Master, what happened here?”
The moment Sopyung saw the dried blood clinging to Youngho’s clothes and his disheveled appearance, her face stiffened.
“Th-this is……?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Young Master, you’re not hurt anywhere, right?”
“I’m fine. More importantly, it seems my Master called for me, so I should go.”
“As long as you’re not hurt, that’s fine! Grandfather looks fine too.”
“So you don’t worry about me properly?”
“Well, there aren’t any bloodstains on Grandfather’s clothes. You’re completely fine, so what’s there to worry about?”
“That’s true.”
Unable to refute such sound logic, Horyeung hastily changed the subject.
“Do you intend to go alone?”
“My Master called me. No one can stop me.”
With that, Youngho left the house in a hurry without even changing his clothes.
Watching that figure blankly, Horyeung soon let out a soft chuckle as he thought,
‘For some reason, he inspires trust.’
Gaining trust from an unorthodox member was usually an extremely difficult thing. Seen from that perspective, Youngho did not seem like an unorthodox member.
Yet he also did not look like someone from the Orthodox Sect, which made him feel strangely out of place.
Horyeung could confidently say that in his entire life, he had never seen a human being like Youngho even once.
‘Just how far will he rise?’
In only six months, he had reached a level where he could freely use Sword Qi, and his growth showed no sign of stopping.
If he continued to grow like this for two years, a true monster might emerge. Of course, that was something only time would tell.
Thud. Thud.
As always, after undergoing a belongings inspection by the guards, Youngho entered Cheonung’s private training ground.
“You’ve come?”
Even though Youngho had not made a sound with his footsteps, Cheonung spoke with his back turned.
“You’re not particularly talented at hiding either.”
“I don’t hide because I don’t want to.”
“At least hide your presence.”
“Hehe.”
“Youngho. Do you remember when I first asked you what a sword was?”
“Yes.”
“Back then, you said that a sword was born to kill people.”
“Yes.”
“Even after six months of learning swordsmanship, has that thought not changed?”
“Yes. A sword is something born to kill people.”
At those words, Cheonung seemed extremely satisfied and wore a pleased smile.
“Good. What I am about to teach you now is the secret essence of swordsmanship.”
At that moment, Cheonung’s sword was drawn from its sheath.
The difference between Cheonung with his sword drawn and Cheonung without it was as vast as the distance between earth and sky.
He did not emit killing intent and released only martial presence, yet the pressure felt was overwhelmingly powerful and immense.
“It is said that ordinary people can exert their full strength for only about ten seconds. But martial artists are different. Because they possess internal energy, because they have tempered bodies, they have stamina on a level that cannot even be compared to average people.”
At such an obvious statement, Youngho nodded.
“But even someone like me will have their stamina drained in an instant if I use the secret essence of swordsmanship. The name of this technique is as follows.”
Fwoooosh—!!
The black flames clinging to Cheonung’s sword began to blaze fiercely.
Kwaaaa—!!
The black flames, which had grown to nearly twice the size of Cheonung’s body, looked as if they might devour him at any moment.
“Flame Venerable Opens the Gate.”
Kwaaaa—!!
At that instant, a torrential surge of immense internal energy surpassed the speed of sound and shot forth in the form of black flames for more than five zhang.
Kuaaaang—!!
The black flames, like a raging tsunami, incinerated everything before Cheonung.
It was not sword force. It was even less so hardened force. It was merely Sword Qi.
If anyone else had witnessed this technique, their spine would have chilled and their legs would have gone weak.
No martial artist could claim to easily block the strike Cheonung had just unleashed.
However, Youngho had already passed beyond that level. Flame Venerable Opens the Gate was not a technique that could be utilized to only that extent.
‘Still, it’s impressive.’
Though it was inferior to his pre-regression self, it was nonetheless at an astounding level. Seeing Cheonung with a single bead of cold sweat trickling down from his temple, Youngho let his amazement show plainly.
‘No, at my current level, shouldn’t I be even more shocked?’
Youngho wore an expression filled with astonishment, as if he could not tell whether what he had just seen was an illusion or reality.
Seeing that expression, Cheonung let out a soft chuckle as he watched Youngho react no differently from his past self.
“It is a technique that pushes the body’s limits to the extreme using internal energy. It bears some resemblance to the martial arts of the Beast Palace beyond the borders.”
“Was what Master just showed me Sword Qi?”
“Of course. If I used hardened force, this training ground would not be left intact.”
Youngho looked at Cheonung with an even more astonished expression.
Of course, it was all an act.
“There is no need to be so surprised. None of my disciples can handle Flame Venerable Opens the Gate as skillfully as that yet.”
“I see…….”
Youngho let out a sigh of relief, patting his chest.
“However, there is something you must be careful about.”
Sensing that this was about to be the core of the conversation, Youngho looked at Cheonung with a hardened expression.
Normally, Cheonung would have told him there was no need to be so tense, but this time seemed to be an exception as he continued speaking with a stiff face.
“Flame Venerable Opens the Gate cannot be used with the internal energy you have accumulated so far. No—more precisely, you will only be able to use a portion of it. Do you know why?”
“Is it because the loss of internal energy is too great?”
“That is correct. But the danger of Flame Venerable Opens the Gate is even greater than that. If your internal energy is insufficient, Flame Venerable Opens the Gate will automatically consume the practitioner’s Innate True Qi.”
“Yes?”
Youngho acted flustered, as if he had misheard.
“You know that the energy a person uses over their entire lifetime is called Innate True Qi, correct?”
“Yes. I also know that if one exhausts their Innate True Qi, they die.”
“Right. That is common knowledge for martial artists, so you would naturally know it well. Innate True Qi, the source of life, cannot be used simply because one wishes to use it. At the very least, one must reach a realm like mine to regulate that energy. However, Flame Venerable Opens the Gate will automatically use the practitioner’s Innate True Qi if their internal energy falls short, regardless of how low their realm is. Do you understand what this means?”
“It means that if I make even a slight mistake, I’ll die.”
“Exactly. With your current internal energy, you will probably be able to use it for a duration equivalent to splitting a fleeting instant into several dozen fragments.”
“To what extent can you use it, Master?”
“Not much longer than you. Even for me, I would need to consume something far superior to Clear Sky Stone Milk, said to be the finest among spirit medicines, to use it for a longer time.”
“I see…….”
As Youngho grew dejected, Cheonung ruffled his hair affectionately and said,
“If controlled well, it is the strongest technique. And most enemies die in the fleeting instant when Flame Venerable Opens the Gate is activated.”
“Yes? Is that so?”
“That is for you to judge after using Flame Venerable Opens the Gate yourself. I will help you circulate your Qi.”
“Understood.”
As he said that, Youngho thought to himself,
‘It seems I can use it more than I expected.’
It appeared that he could utilize Flame Venerable Opens the Gate more than he had initially thought. After all, Flame Venerable Opens the Gate did not exist solely for combat.
Cheonung explained it only as a technique that maximized the body, but in truth, it maximized far more than just the body.
Cognitive ability, the five senses, and even instinct—everything increased explosively.
It maximized all of one’s strengths. That was Flame Venerable Opens the Gate.
If Hong Gakjeong had used Flame Venerable Opens the Gate, Youngho would not have stood a chance against her.
The reason Hong Gakjeong had not used Flame Venerable Opens the Gate on Youngho was likely because her goal had been to kill Baekcheong.
Though he did not know exactly what had happened, Hong Gakjeong had committed a grave crime serious enough for Cheonung to personally step in. She must not have had time.
She likely believed that having broken through the wall, she could easily kill someone like Youngho. She probably planned to defeat him with the minimum amount of internal energy and then use Flame Venerable Opens the Gate on Baekcheong.
Of course, the plan failed in the end, but if Youngho had been in Hong Gakjeong’s position, he would have done the same.
There was only one reason Hong Gakjeong’s plan failed.
It was because Youngho himself was a regressor. That was all.
Because Flame Venerable Opens the Gate was more difficult to use than expected, Cheonung helped circulate Qi as much as possible. He poured in tremendous effort so that Youngho would not die even if he used Flame Venerable Opens the Gate himself.
No matter how much of a genius Youngho was, Flame Venerable Opens the Gate was not something that could be used easily.
Thus, for a while, a farcical scene unfolded where the Master worked in a sweat, dripping profusely, while the disciple deliberately misaligned his Qi circulation just enough to avoid suffering internal injuries.