Childhood Friend of the Zenith Chapter 104: Master (2)

༺ Master (2) ༻

Why is Namgung Bi-ah in my room?

After seeing such an absurd sight, Elder Shin spoke up.

｢How far did you guys go while I was gone…｣

‘What do you an?’

Elder Shin ignored my question, seemingly disappointed that he missed the action.

It would be a bit of a problem if I woke her up, so I quickly grabbed my clothes and snuck out in secret.

I wrapped my injured arm with a cloth to stop the blood, and I incinerated the blood-stained clothes, subsequently burying them.

‘The servants might be anxious when they realized so of my clothes are missing but I couldn’t just leave the evidence like that.’

Clean and in a new change of clothes, I ca back to my room.

Now was the ti to deal with the real problem.

“What do I do with her?”

I couldn’t help but wonder as I looked at Namgung Bi-ah who was rubbing her face on the blanket.

It was not like I could just throw her out.

“…Why does she insist on sleeping here when she has her own room?”

I heard that if she wasn’t out to train during the day, she usually napped in my room. Did that an she waited for to leave before entering?

I didn’t think that’s the case.

‘Should I just sleep with the servants then?’

Usually, it would be fine if I just missed a day of sleep, but the fatigue I was feeling right now would not go away unless I got a good night of sleep.

Was this also because of the fact that Elder Shin had been using my body?

｢Then it’s probably not physical fatigue.｣

Like Elder Shin said, I was feeling it as well.

Even if he had used my muscles that I didn’t normally use, it didn’t make sense for to have gotten this tired.

That could only an what I felt was ntal fatigue.

‘I’m not sure if sleep can help with that.’

I was also not sure if I could keep myself awake, I was about to pass out.

Since I couldn’t just sleep next to her nor could I miss sleep, I took a pillow and lay down on the floor outside the room.

｢Seems like that part of you that refuses to take what’s offered to you on a silver platter hasn’t changed when I was gone, huh…?｣

‘Do you really have to nag all the ti after your big return?’

｢I understood it back then because I thought you were young… but now that I learned that you co from a different ti, and see you acting like this despite your age, how do you think I feel?｣

‘Well, you say that, but you yourself never actually got to-‘

I stopped my words. I realized I went a bit too far with that one.

‘Elder Shin…?’

｢…｣

‘I apologize. I agree I went a bit far just now…’

I called out to him a few more tis, but the old man didn’t respond.

In the end, I offered him a few more apologies and decided to sleep.

* * * *

Today marks the end of my business here at Mount Hua.

The only thing I had to do was to see the Celestial Plum Blossom, so I was thinking of spending at most four days before returning to my clan.

My journey really was nearing its end.

Soon after, the Murim Alliance would find the basent of the Black Palace’s hideout and contact Mount Hua.

If that happened, could Mount Hua’s tournant festival continue?

I wasn’t too sure because I had never paid too much attention to Mount Hua, but once they heard about this, they might either delay the tournant or just shut it down completely.

That blood pool was essentially the sa thing as a tool for human sacrifice.

‘But if it does go on…’

There were two things that would cause the tournant to go on.

First, if they didn’t want the news of this discovery to reach Huayin City.

Telling them about the deaths of Mount Hua’s swordsn would only make them quake in fear.

For that reason, I believed they would try to keep it as quiet as possible, at least when they first discovered the hideout.

‘Though they might find a different excuse to stop the tournant regardless, without raising any suspicion.’

The second thing was that they might not find the cave at all, or find it too late.

The latter was probably the worst-case scenario and the one no one wanted.

It was a piece of intel that would show them how serious the matters were, so I prayed the second option would not co to be.

‘…Let’s just get so sleep for now.’

Trying to think about it with my fatigued, fuzzy mind was pointless. I couldn’t even collect my thoughts any longer.

As soon as I closed my eyes, I dozed off….

…and shortly after, I woke up.

I forcefully opened my tired eyes. Thankfully, I didn’t see a foreign ceiling this ti.

How long did I sleep? Judging by the fact that I could see the sunlight, I supposed I hadn’t slept that much.

When I lifted my body up, soone pressed my head down and blocked from getting up.

“…!”

Because of the sudden surprise, I fully woke up from my half-asleep state. Now that I looked at it, I was using sothing as a pillow—and it was definitely not a pillow.

Putting aside the fact that it was soft and smooth, I was able to sll a fragrant scent coming from the direction of my left check.

“You can lie down for a little longer.”

Hearing the monotone voice I heard from above my head, I didn’t have to think for even a second to realize who it was.

I was using Namgung Bi-ah’s thighs as a pillow right now.

I asked with a confused voice, “What are you doing?”

“You fell asleep.”

“What does that have to do with anything…?”

“Seol-Ah was here… but she left just now.”

Instead of answering my question, she tried to change the subject and tell about Wi Seol-Ah’s whereabouts.

“She waited for you to wake up, and now she’ll be disappointed…”

“Well, I woke up now, so it should be fine. Move your arm so I can get up.”

Despite knowing I wanted to get up, Namgung Bi-ah pressed my head down so that I couldn’t.

As I wondered if I should just use brute strength to force my way out, she started talking.

“Did you go sowhere during the night?”

“…”

“You… said you’d tell everything.”

I couldn’t give her a straight answer. I never expected her to co into my room in the dead of the night.

‘Plus, I don’t think I actually promised her that I would tell her everything.’

“Uh… I sll blood…”

“…!”

I remained silent. I washed myself and even burned the sll away with heat, but she could still pick up the scent.

Or perhaps…

‘…Is it the flower I have with that she can sll?’

The flower that had blood after soaking up blood; it wasn’t too big, so I had carefully wrapped it up and put it in my pocket.

Although I couldn’t really sense it, Namgung Bi-ah had a fairly sensitive sense of sll.

Seeing my hesitation to answer, Namgung Bi-ah let out a small sigh and continued to speak.

“I had a nightmare… I wanted to see you… but you weren’t here.”

“That… is probably not my fau-“

“But I’ll let it pass.”

“Huh?”

“I won’t complain why you went sowhere without telling , and I won’t ask where you went for you to sll like blood.”

“…”

“…So just stay like this for a bit…”

After hearing Namgung Bi-ah’s quiet whisper, I relaxed my body. I couldn’t answer her, so I wouldn’t resist either.

The hand that was forcefully preventing from getting up was now a soft, kind hand caressing .

I felt her touching my hair, so I just gave up and decided to continue to lie down there.

｢…If there is God, please send this bastard to hell.｣

I almost burst out laughing at the sudden words I heard.

It seed like it was the first ti I heard Elder Shin curse like that.

* * * *

After being freed from Namgung Bi-ah’s hand, I went to the training area. I had to be quick as I was held for a rather long ti.

I had to figure out what would happen to Mount Hua’s tournant and what to do about the flower I had in my possession.

But the thing I had to do before that was to rethink the fight I had against Nachal.

This bout was sowhat enlightening.

Before I forgot, I had to rember the sensation Elder Shin tried to teach .

He didn’t use a lot of Taoist Qi.

To put it more bluntly, he couldn’t use a lot of Taoist Qi because I didn’t have that much to begin with, not when compared to the other types of Qi inside of .

Of course, it was true that the Qi I absorbed from the treasure was pure.

Furthermore, it was understandable that Elder Shin could control my body like that considering the experience he had accumulated during his life, but that was no excuse for to not be able to do that as well.

It couldn’t be that much different for since it was my body.

‘A fist fighter may have differences compared to a weapon user,’

Unlike the martial artists that put their understanding of martial arts into their weapons, fist fighters focused on their whole body which made the two styles completely different.

I could probably list a hundred more differences, but the biggest one was how much they changed after they broke through their limits.

A fist fighter was more exposed to danger considering they used their body as a weapon, but, again, that was no excuse.

‘None of that matters anyway, since I am a blood relative of the Gu Clan.’

‘That’s what it ans to use Gu Clan’s fla art.’

Armor just got in the way since we had to control the fire from inside our bodies.

In the end, what mattered the most was how much control I had over my flas, just like Elder Shin told , and how effectively I used it.

｢You and I are different.｣

Elder Shin suddenly spoke up while I was circulating my Qi.

｢I too had a lot of experiences in the past, so my Qi reserves were not that small. Still, I could never fight like you, just throwing Qi around like it’s garbage.｣

As Elder Shin said, that was indeed my fighting style.

To use an endless amount of demonic Qi that I got from my ability.

I covered my flaws with my endless Qi, and I brute-forced my way out of whatever predicant I found myself in.

I did that because I knew that I wouldn’t run out of Qi no matter what.

Even this nasty habit of mine was brought along to my second life.

‘The fact that I’m still running out of Qi even after absorbing that much is because of this.’

I had to get rid of the mindset that this issue can’t be fixed because I haven’t broken through my limits yet.

I rembered what Elder Shin had told .

If I remained like this, the end result was obvious.

If this wasn’t the path I chose to go, I probably wouldn’t have taken Elder Shin’s words to my heart.

In my past life, I was never able to reach the max realm of Destructive Fla Martial Arts.

Was it because I didn’t have enough ti? I had thought that to be the case until the first few days of my resurrection.

‘Let recount the sensation I felt.’

I honestly thought that I was using my Destructive Fla Martial Arts properly.

I thought this way because I had been able to win battles that I thought I shouldn’t have been able to.

Maybe that was why I had been taking the process of maintaining heat for granted.

｢I didn’t tell you to change your style.｣

‘You say that even after showing that?’

｢I just showed you the difference between you and I. If your Qi really was endless, then your way of fighting isn’t that bad.｣

‘Yes, if my Qi was endless.’

If I decide to use demonic Qi just like in my past life, my Qi would only continue to increase.

That was the monstrous power of the Heavenly Demon after all.

‘However, if I do this, then I’ll be the sa as in my past life.’

In the end, I would be t with a wall and I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.

Whether it was the peak or the fusion realm, reaching those levels wasn’t important to .

The max rank of the Destructive Fla Martial Arts, that’s what I had to focus on. I realized that in order to do that, I had to find a different path than the one I had chosen in my past life.

Luckily enough, a master that would help was closer to than anyone else.

｢Who gave you the permission to call master? Now you are just trying to use .｣

‘You should pay rent if you use my body like that without permission.’

｢Now you are just being shaless!｣

After flowing my Qi, I used it to generate heat inside my body.

‘Up until now, it’s been the sa.’

I had to think about the sensation Elder Shin had shown .

The sensation that felt like a storm inside my body.

It would’ve taken a long ti to express this with words, but I experienced it with my own body, so I already knew full well how it felt.

– Whoosh…!

Trying to replicate the sensation as closely as I could, I circulated my Qi.

The pressure I felt from doing so made my shoulders shake.

‘How… How can I maintain this?’

I needed to have crazy control of my Qi in order to maintain the raging storm inside my body.

I had to make sure that none of it leaked out.

My body already rembered how to do that.

All I had to do was recreate that feeling, but that was quite difficult.

｢You should at the very least be able to do that much if you are using like that. How much help are you trying to get from ?｣

‘I didn’t say anything, though?’

I supposed Elder Shin still was mad about the conversation we had earlier.

｢Hmph.｣

The storm that started in my abdon started to spread throughout my body, but none of it leaked out of my body.

I even controlled my breath in case it tried to leave through my mouth.

Enduring the Qi that felt like it would erupt at any mont made veins pop out on my neck.

The condensed Qi started to rise up to my middle abdon.

– Sssss-

My body burned, as though it wasn’t ready yet.

I collected Qi and flowed more of it into my mid-abdominal area without hesitation. My instincts were telling that now was the ti.

– Kwaaaaa-!

As if to tell that my instincts were correct, the wall of the middle abdominal area was broken through all too easily and the Qi entered it like a tsunami.

Wooosh-!

Subsequently, the Qi I had been building up inside my body erupted and heat was discharged all around .

｢…You really like to use .｣

“Phew…!”

I raised my hand, focusing my Qi.

The heat aura that ford around my palm looked calm and stable.

Seeing that, I said, “Thank you.”

I couldn’t help but express my gratitude toward the old man. It was thanks to him that I was able to break through that wall.

｢I don’t like how you barely react to a feat that most martial artists only dream of reaching.｣

“…This is where it truly begins after all.”

The peak realm.

I reached the level that I thought it would take at least another year.

My progress was much faster than I expected.

Ti was one thing, but I felt like I now knew what path to take.

I wasn’t going to throw away my old style of fighting, but incorporate new techniques into what I already knew.

｢Don’t you think you should inspect your Qi?｣

“I think it’s fine. All the different types are harmoniously flowing around on their own.”

｢That’s good, I probably don’t need to tell you anything else. Seems like you know what to do now.｣

“I do.”

｢However, don’t we have sothing to talk about?｣

“…We do.”

My heart sank. That was another reason why I had left the lodge.

Up until now, Elder Shin had been silent about the matter.

I knew that he was being considerate.

Even when he didn’t know about my resurrection, he said that he had lots to ask of .

But now that he knew, there was probably much more that he wanted to ask about .

｢I have way too many things I want to ask you, but I would like to ask the most important thing right now.｣

“What would you do if I just don’t answer, or lie in my response?”

｢I’ll consider it your choice and respect it.｣

My heart felt heavy. Elder Shin’s belief in felt heavy.

I always knew him as an annoying old man that nagged all the ti, but I also knew that he was a hero of the past that saved his generation.

To deny that fact was impossible because of everything he showed .

｢I’ll begin asking my questions now.｣

And so, he did.

｢What is the Heavenly Demon?｣