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 attainnt?”
“Why bother asking that?”
“It is because I cannot see it with my own eyes.”
“You can beco 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 ti, only the quantity of internal energy increased, so there wasn’t much achievent.”
“I see.”
“Then let’s clean up this woman’s corpse.”
“Yes.”
Originally, this was work ant 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 co 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 tis 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 beco a martial artist of the Unorthodox Alliance, caught Cheonung’s eye, and beca 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 soone 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 imdiately called out to Sopyung.
“Sopyung! You can co out now!”
At that, a young maid ca running toward Youngho at full speed, limping slightly.
“Young Master, what happened here?”
The mont 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 , so I should go.”
“As long as you’re not hurt, that’s fine! Grandfather looks fine too.”
“So you don’t worry about
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 . No one can stop .”
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 so reason, he inspires trust.’
Gaining trust from an unorthodox mber was usually an extrely difficult thing. Seen from that perspective, Youngho did not seem like an unorthodox mber.
Yet he also did not look like soone 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 erge. Of course, that was sothing only ti would tell.
Thud. Thud.
As always, after undergoing a belongings inspection by the guards, Youngho entered Cheonung’s private training ground.
“You’ve co?”
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 rember 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 sothing born to kill people.”
At those words, Cheonung seed extrely satisfied and wore a pleased smile.
“Good. What I am about to teach you now is the secret essence of swordsmanship.”
At that mont, 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 imnse.
“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 statent, Youngho nodded.
“But even soone like
will have their stamina drained in an instant if I use the secret essence of swordsmanship. The na of this technique is as follows.”
Fwoooosh—!!
The black flas clinging to Cheonung’s sword began to blaze fiercely.
Kwaaaa—!!
The black flas, which had grown to nearly twice the size of Cheonung’s body, looked as if they might devour him at any mont.
“Fla Venerable Opens the Gate.”
Kwaaaa—!!
At that instant, a torrential surge of imnse internal energy surpassed the speed of sound and shot forth in the form of black flas for more than five zhang.
Kuaaaang—!!
The black flas, like a raging tsunami, incinerated everything before Cheonung.
It was not sword force. It was even less so hardened force. It was rely 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. Fla 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 amazent show plainly.
‘No, at my current level, shouldn’t I be even more shocked?’
Youngho wore an expression filled with astonishnt, 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 extre using internal energy. It bears so resemblance to the martial arts of the Beast Palace beyond the borders.”
“Was what Master just showed
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 Fla Venerable Opens the Gate as skillfully as that yet.”
“I see…….”
Youngho let out a sigh of relief, patting his chest.
“However, there is sothing 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 ti seed to be an exception as he continued speaking with a stiff face.
“Fla 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 Fla Venerable Opens the Gate is even greater than that. If your internal energy is insufficient, Fla Venerable Opens the Gate will automatically consu 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 lifeti 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, Fla 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 ans?”
“It ans 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 fragnts.”
“To what extent can you use it, Master?”
“Not much longer than you. Even for , I would need to consu sothing far superior to Clear Sky Stone Milk, said to be the finest among spirit dicines, to use it for a longer ti.”
“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 Fla Venerable Opens the Gate is activated.”
“Yes? Is that so?”
“That is for you to judge after using Fla 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 Fla Venerable Opens the Gate more than he had initially thought. After all, Fla 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 Fla Venerable Opens the Gate.
If Hong Gakjeong had used Fla Venerable Opens the Gate, Youngho would not have stood a chance against her.
The reason Hong Gakjeong had not used Fla 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 cri serious enough for Cheonung to personally step in. She must not have had ti.
She likely believed that having broken through the wall, she could easily kill soone like Youngho. She probably planned to defeat him with the minimum amount of internal energy and then use Fla 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 sa.
There was only one reason Hong Gakjeong’s plan failed.
It was because Youngho himself was a regressor. That was all.
Because Fla Venerable Opens the Gate was more difficult to use than expected, Cheonung helped circulate Qi as much as possible. He poured in trendous effort so that Youngho would not die even if he used Fla Venerable Opens the Gate himself.
No matter how much of a genius Youngho was, Fla Venerable Opens the Gate was not sothing 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.
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