Chapter 527: Give it to me just once.

The sky is clear today.

As I looked up at the empty sky, the thought naturally came to me.

I could see the sunset gradually descending, and the sight of the colors bleeding without a single cloud was truly beautiful.

Fucking beautiful, I might add.

“Hyungnim. How long are you going to lie there?”

At the voice that reached me, I tilted my head slightly.

It was Paejon, sitting on a rock with his legs crossed, staring at me.

Looking at him, I asked.

“Doesn’t your way of speaking sound a bit strange…?”

What is that dog-shit-like mongrel speech?

“What sounds strange? Hyungnim.”

“…”

Paejon, who stubbornly refused to change his words even when pointed out.

Does that guy think just adding Hyungnim to his words makes everything okay?

I was dumbfounded, but I had nothing to say.

“Ughhh….”

It’s because I’d been thoroughly beaten up right before this.

That’s why I was looking at the sky. I couldn’t get up from lying down.

As I tried to force my upper body up, every single joint screamed.

Using all my strength, I somehow managed to get my body up and said, looking resentfully at Paejon.

“I told you I was a patient….”

“From the way you were talking earlier, you looked perfectly fine. Hyungnim.”

“…Are you planning to keep doing that?”

“What are you talking about, Hyungnim?”

“…”

That old geezer seems to hold grudges much more than I thought.

‘I got too carried away.’

Knowing he’d run away for days to avoid dealing with me, I tried to be a little mischievous.

I forgot that he said he’d call me Hyungnim, not that he wouldn’t commit insubordination.

I messed up and got thoroughly beaten under the guise of a sparring match.

“Ugh….”

It hurts more than last time.

This definitely had emotion behind it.

But the reason I couldn’t say anything was…

“…Aren’t you tired?”

“Tired of what, Hyung….”

“Stop doing that, please.”

It felt like begging the question, so I told him to stop.

Only then did Paejon chuckle and twist his wrist.

The reason I asked if he was tired was simple.

‘My body shouldn’t be that soft.’

While it hurt from being beaten just now, the parts of my body that felt somewhat blocked, as if my acupoints were swollen, felt refreshed.

From this, I could tell.

That Paejon hadn’t just been hitting me randomly.

This was definitely…

‘Pushing the Palace and Passing Through Acupoints (推宮過穴).’

Just like when I was hit last time, Paejon’s strikes usually ended up helping my body.

He’d hit the exact spots that bothered me, like a ghost, unblocking them.

Which is why this is even more surprising.

‘How is this possible?’

Paejon’s cultivation level is currently at perfect mastery of the Peak stage.

He’s someone who should have reached the Flower stage long ago, but regardless, he’s still at the Peak stage.

Yet, with that level, not only does he completely subdue me, who is at the Flower stage,

‘He even performs Push Palace and Pass Acupoints during the fight.’

And it’s not like I just took the hits passively.

‘…I struggled desperately.’

I gritted my teeth and charged, determined to land even one hit, but damn it, I couldn’t even graze his collar.

‘What’s the problem?’

The difference in cultivation level is clearly in my favor. Moreover, my speed is faster.

Not to mention strength, my internal energy capacity is also much greater.

Simply put, I should be overwhelmingly superior in every aspect, but…

‘You mean I can’t even touch him?’

It’s simply absurd.

As I was constantly thinking about what the problem was.

“It’s because your eyes haven’t developed properly.”

Paejon, as if he already knew what I was thinking, provided an answer without being asked.

“My eyes?”

“Yes. With such low perception, how can you see and evade?”

My perception is low?

“…Are you saying that the reason I can’t reach you, Hyungnim, is also due to a difference in perception?”

“That’s no different. How can you touch something you cannot see?”

As my internal energy harmonizes with my body, my reaction speed increases.

My vision becomes wider and clearer accordingly, so the statement that my perception is poor, coming from someone at the Flower stage, didn’t seem right.

However.

‘Paejon isn’t talking about that kind of perception.’

I shouldn’t take it literally.

Look now, Paejon spoke and was watching me with intrigued eyes.

That guy is testing me right now.

‘How annoying. He could just tell me.’

He deliberately spoke cryptically, wanting me to figure it out.

That must be his intention.

‘Tsk.’

Is this also part of the training?

Even if I don’t like it, I have no grounds to argue.

The value of the training Paejon provided was that high.

In fact, my physical abilities have improved incomparably compared to before, so I had no intention of arguing.

‘Low perception.’

The difference between Paejon and me.

What could it be?

‘…He blocks me before I can even reach him. No, I get blocked before I even start.’

Whether I see it or not is irrelevant.

Paejon moved preemptively, even before I made any move.

No matter how fast I was, Paejon blocked my movements before they even unfolded.

As soon as I thought about kicking, Paejon would already be blocking by kicking my thigh.

All the feints were useless.

And all the real attacks I sandwiched in between were blocked.

To break through this, it would have to be so fast that Paejon couldn’t even react.

‘Conversely, the reason Paejon can grasp this is….’

It’s not enough that he predicts all my movements.

Isn’t it that he fights while visualizing my subsequent linked movements in his head?

If that’s the case, setting aside how a human brain could possibly do that…

“…Isn’t it less about low perception and more about fighting with your head instead of your eyes from the start?”

“Haha.”

Hearing my answer, Paejon burst into laughter.

“What a simple answer.”

“I put in a decent effort for this.”

“Yes, simple but not bad… because you got the answer right. So why can’t you do it, even though you know the answer?”

I frowned at his words.

If knowing it meant being able to do it, I would have become Paejon myself, you idiot.

I suppressed the urge to say that.

I couldn’t just blurt it out because the spot I was just hit still hurt.

“Judging by your expression, I can tell exactly what you’re thinking.”

“I was just thinking anew how respectable you are, Hyungnim.”

“What are you talking about?”

“…”

Sigh.

It didn’t work, did it?

As I turned my head away regretfully, I heard Paejon click his tongue briefly.

“I won’t be disappointed in you for not being able to do this. In a way, it’s natural.”

“…Are you saying that you also achieved this through training? Something like that?”

“No? I was capable from the start.”

“…Huh?”

“If you can’t even do this, you can’t go around calling yourself a Venerable One. Tsk tsk.”

That nonchalant admission of his own greatness.

Was incredibly annoying.

“What I mean is, it’s not a problem that you can’t do it. Of course, even if you can’t do this…”

A smile formed around his eyes.

Every time Paejon smiled like that, I got goosebumps.

“I will make it so you can, so that’s not a problem either.”

Those are the scariest words in the world.

Make it happen somehow.

It was the same desire I had in my current life, but it was terrifying when someone else tried to impose it on me.

Hiding my fear, I asked.

“…Are you perhaps saying you’ll help me use my brain better?”

“What strange things you say. How could I possibly do something like that?”

“Huh?”

The guy who just said he’d make the impossible possible…

What did he mean by this?

“If you don’t understand this part from the beginning, you shouldn’t try to learn it with your head. It would be a waste of time.”

“Then… what am I supposed to do….”

“It’s simple logic. If your head doesn’t work…”

Swish-!

“…!”

A fist suddenly shot out, and I twisted my body to dodge it, but…

Thump-!

My left foot, which was trying to move back half a step, got caught by Paejon’s foot, disrupting my stance.

My lower body collapsed, and I had to slump down with a thud.

Sitting down ungracefully, I stared blankly at Paejon.

Looking at me like that, Paejon said.

“You just need to learn it with your body.”

My mouth, about to ask what this was, shut itself.

‘What is this?’

That last move was strange somehow.

The problem is, I don’t know what was strange.

Was it strange how easily I collapsed?

Or perhaps, was it strange that I couldn’t grasp Paejon’s movements?

It’s a peculiar feeling. A frustrating sense of knowing yet not knowing.

[…Oho….]

Amidst this, Shin Noyai’s voice, sounding impressed, could be heard.

Does this mean Paejon really did something?

“As I keep saying, you have misconceptions about yourself.”

Paejon’s voice was heard.

“I really don’t like seeing you look down on yourself with such a vessel in that body. Why do you see yourself so poorly?”

“Out of the blue… what are you talking about?”

It might seem random, but it was enough to stir my heart.

It couldn’t be helped.

The body I obtained through regression in extreme environments was undoubtedly exceptional.

It’s definitely a physique others would covet.

Paejon took me as his disciple seeing that, after all.

However.

‘Just because of that, I’m not a genius.’

It wouldn’t be strange for Paejon to misunderstand like that, but I knew.

That I wasn’t someone who could be called a genius.

It’s like this right now.

I hadn’t properly understood what Paejon said in my head.

Seeing that, Paejon’s words weren’t something that easily resonated.

“Judging by the ugliness of your eyes, nose, and mouth, you seem to be having another idiotic thought.”

Personal attacks are a bit much, aren’t they? Hearing that, I let out a hollow laugh.

“Ah-ya.”

Paejon called me.

“No matter how you judge yourself, I truly don’t care. Whatever happens, in the end, there’s only one thing you will realize.”

“And what is that?”

“It’s that, in the end, you will become my, Paejon Bi-ju’s, sole successor and the masterpiece of my life.”

“…”

How can a person utter such words so nonchalantly?

Paejon’s confidence is truly astonishing.

“If you lack confidence, fill it up and build arrogance on top. Then, surround it with the ability to take responsibility for it. It doesn’t matter if you can’t do that either.”

Creak.

I saw Paejon stretching as he spoke.

That sight sent a chill down my spine.

I immediately got up and jumped back a few steps.

“If you lack something, I will provide it. If you don’t know, I will teach you. If you cannot cultivate strength, I will provide that too. Since I’ve become your master, I can do that much. No, I must do it.”

“…Why are you suddenly acting like this?”

He seems much more passionate now? Did something happen during the few days I didn’t see him?

The old man felt somewhat more energetic.

And in a significantly bad way, too.

Feeling a chill, I rolled my eyes, looking for an escape route.

My instincts were telling me.

If I was going to run, I had to run now.

Whether he knew it or not, Paejon continued talking to me.

Just as I was about to make a run for it, trying to bolt…

“It seems your body is ready. I’m saying this because it feels like it’s time to move on to the next stage.”

“…!”

At Paejon’s words, my steps halted involuntarily.

The phrase ‘next stage’…

‘The transplantation of the Two-Winged Heavenly Dance?’

Last time, right after I barely learned the Solar Eclipse…

It meant starting the training for the next stage of the Two-Winged Heavenly Dance, which hadn’t been taught for a while.

The problem was.

“…You mean now?”

You’re doing that now? As I asked, sounding flustered, Paejon shook his head.

“Not right now. Your body seems ready, but… the most important thing hasn’t been achieved yet. That must be fulfilled first.”

“If it’s something important…”

“Didn’t I say it earlier? You need to change your low perception.”

“Ah.”

What I mentioned earlier, the reason I couldn’t reach Paejon.

And.

The meaning behind the strange sensation I just felt.

Is that what he meant?

Paejon said.

If I didn’t understand, he’d just keep teaching me until I did.

“If you learn this, you’ll at least look more like a martial artist than you do now.”

“…So, I’m not a martial artist right now?”

“Hmm, you’d be about the level of a snot-nosed kid who picks fights around the neighborhood.”

“Snot-nosed….”

[Hoho, how does he say the exact same thing I was thinking.]

It felt like those two damn old geezers were mocking me.

It felt shitty in many ways.

“If you reach that point, you won’t get beaten up so easily wherever you go. And if you reach it, I’ll give you my permission.”

“Permission for what?”

“To call yourself my disciple, Bi-ju’s disciple. That’s what I’ll permit.”

To my question, Paejon replied with a satisfied smile.

What that meant was that I would be recognized as Paejon’s true successor, but….

“…I don’t really need something like that.”

“…?”

It wasn’t something that particularly interested me.

Even if he told me to brag about it, I wouldn’t tell anyone anyway, so why would I go around saying it just because he gave permission?

‘It’s not embarrassing… but it feels like bragging, so maybe slightly embarrassing?’

I felt something like that.

I! Am the disciple of the great Paejon!

It feels like I’d be going around saying that.

Just imagining it made me cringe.

The cringeworthy thought gave me goosebumps.

Hiding it, I looked at Paejon.

I saw Paejon’s eyebrow twitch slightly.

Was he angry? In response, I hastily brought up an excuse.

“Well… it’s not that I don’t need it…. It’s just that…”

“…Well. It might not be necessary. I wasn’t insisting you go around telling people anyway.”

He wasn’t angry?

That would be a relief.

“Ah, yes, thank you for understanding….”

Crack.

“Huh?”

Hearing a strange sound from Paejon’s arm, I turned my head, and…

I saw him moving his fists around, warming up.

“Hyungnim?”

“It seems I didn’t finish explaining the training method earlier. Let me tell you a bit more.”

“Just a moment. Please don’t come any closer. Let’s talk from there, shall we?”

“If you can’t understand it with your head. You must learn it with your body. Do you know the fastest way to do that?”

“No. I don’t want to know…!”

Whoosh-!

As if he couldn’t hear me, Paejon threw a punch.

It was even faster than before.

I barely dodged it.

Bang-!

“Guh…!”

I thought I’d dodged by turning my head, but for some reason, Paejon’s fist was embedded in my solar plexus.

Was it a feint? I didn’t see it.

My upper body bent forward involuntarily.

Paejon’s fist was filled with the core technique of the Two-Winged Heavenly Dance.

My protective energy shattered and entered my body.

Even if I was careless, I had kept my protective energy strong, not knowing when I might get hit, but…

‘…He broke through where my protective energy was weakest.’

Somehow, he found the spot where my protective energy was weakest and broke through it.

That wasn’t all.

As my upper body collapsed, creating an opening…

Paejon kicked me far away.

Wham-!

I flew straight into a tree.

“Guh… no….”

I couldn’t even breathe, sputtering.

My internal energy was twisted by the previous attack.

The acupoints that were just starting to heal felt like they were acting up again.

What kind of dog-shit situation is this, fixing something only to break it again?

I looked at Paejon with a resentful expression, but he was looking at me with only his eyes smiling.

“You learn by taking the hits directly. That’s the fastest way.”

“…Damn it….”

He’s sulking.

That guy is definitely sulking.

Why are old geezers like that always so petty?

Sweat poured down my face from the pain, but even so, Paejon walked towards me slowly and said.

“Your intuition is good. It’s the second thing I value most about you, after your physique.”

I forced myself up with strength. I was in a hurry.

Compared to the distance, his voice sounded much closer.

I moved my body according to my senses.

I tried to get away first, but…

Tap.

I was blocked.

Damn it…! Paejon had already blocked my escape route.

Squeeze-! My shoulder moved.

It wasn’t my will. It was Paejon’s strength.

Even though I shouldn’t be pushed back by strength, Paejon effortlessly pushed me aside.

“However, I really didn’t like how you relied solely on that intuition. So, I’ll fix that this time.”

I unleashed my internal energy.

I tried to focus strength into my heart to radiate heat, but…

Boom-!

“Guh…!”

Paejon squeezed through the flow of my internal energy and cut it off.

The unique destructive power of the Two-Winged Heavenly Dance disrupted the flow of my internal energy.

The moment my body was engulfed by the backlash, Paejon grabbed me by the collar and threw me backward.

While flying, I barely managed to perform a proper landing technique.

As I struggled to regain my bearings amidst the dizzying vision.

“There’s only one condition to finish the training ahead. You damn disciple.”

Once again, Paejon’s voice sounded right beside my ear.

“Block even one of my attacks. If you succeed, this training is over.”

“…What…!”

I tried to shout what he meant, but Paejon’s knee was already coming towards my face.

I raised my hand to block.

Pang-!

However, I couldn’t block it all.

My head shook from the impact.

‘This damn it…!’

Attacks rained down from everywhere.

I was barely able to block or dodge, just managing to do that, when…

Paejon performed all sorts of movements and said to me.

“It’s not blocking or dodging, it’s ‘intercepting’. Keep that in mind.”

That voice sounded particularly clear.

‘Seriously, fuck.’

Hearing that, I gritted my teeth.

All the training methods are sudden and shitty.

That thought crossed my mind while getting beaten.

---

“…”

While Gu Yangcheon was being continuously beaten by Paejon.

Gu Cheol-un was watching from a distance.

Watching his son get hit all over and roll on the ground.

Even while watching that, Gu Cheol-un’s eyes didn’t waver.

He just watched with calm eyes.

Just then.

“You’re not intervening. Why?”

Someone approached Gu Cheol-un and asked a question.

Gu Cheol-un looked at the person. He wasn’t surprised. He had known they were coming from the start.

The one who asked the question was a handsome man with expressionless, white hair.

Gu Cheol-un looked at him and spoke softly.

“Because there is no reason to intervene.”

“Even though your only son is being treated like that?”

Gu Yangcheon is destined to inherit the position of family head someday and lead the Gu family.

With his son suffering like that, Gu Yangcheon has no reason to move?

It was a strange statement.

“I don’t think you, who rushed here from so far away out of concern for your son, are in a position to say that.”

At the man’s words, Gu Cheol-un’s brow furrowed slightly, but it quickly returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

The reason he wasn’t intervening despite his son suffering like that.

It was a simple reason.

“I have already entrusted that matter to Paejon. Moreover, I am not foolish enough to interfere with training.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

The man nodded at Gu Cheol-un’s answer.

Not because he understood.

Simply because he said so, leaving him with nothing more to say.

A moment of silence passed, and the man decided to ask Gu Cheol-un something else.

“Right, why did you summon me?”

The reason the man was here now.

It was because Gu Cheol-un had personally summoned Am Wang.

To that question, Gu Cheol-un stated the main point of summoning Am Wang.

“There is something I wish to ask you, Hyungnim.”

To that question, the white-haired man, Am Wang (暗王), looked at Gu Cheol-un.

Gu Cheol-un’s red eyes, gazing at Am Wang, began to shine more clearly.

“Why did you do it?”

“Do what?”

At Gu Cheol-un’s question, Am Wang tilted his head slightly.

He seemed unsure of what was being asked.

So Gu Cheol-un stated firmly.

“The letter sent from the Tang family head to the Gu family. You were involved in that, weren’t you, Hyungnim?”

“…”

The letter from Dok Wang that arrived at the Gu family a few days ago.

The story about Gu Yangcheon almost being poisoned.

Gu Cheol-un was saying that Am Wang was involved in that matter.

Hearing this, Am Wang…

“Hmm.”

He replied with a rare smile.

“You’re still as sharp as ever.”

Simultaneously with his answer, the sky seemed to grow a little darker.