Chapter 1177: Scorched World.

Chirp-! Chirp chirp-!

Along with the sound of birds, an unfamiliar ceiling came into view.

“…….”

The sunlight announcing the morning directly hit my face, causing me to squint.

“……Ugh.”

First, I sat up. Where could I be again? There was no need to question it. It’s just that the ceiling was unfamiliar; I could roughly tell where I was.

‘……The Gu residence.’

The Sanseo Gu residence. I had returned to the main house.

Just like the unique scent, the warmth felt from the Gu residence was no different.

“……When did I return?”

My narrowed face wouldn’t relax. The fact that I woke up here…

‘Someone must have moved me.’

Biting my lip, I sat up.

Just then.

“Have you woken?”

“…….”

A voice was heard. Turning my head, I saw Pae-jon.

He was looking at me while yawning.

“……Did you bring me here, Pae-jon-nim?”

“Then who else would have brought you? If that Gu-ryun bastard had known, there would have been a massive commotion.”

“…….”

“You probably wanted that too, didn’t you?”

“Thank you.”

A sense of relief washed over me. He was right. If Gu-ryun had brought me, a massive incident truly would have occurred.

“Since I brought you here quietly, there shouldn’t be any problems you’re worried about.”

“……Yes.”

“How’s the body?”

‘Body.’

At Pae-jon’s words, I clenched my fist slightly.

Woowoowoong–!!!

Circulating my energy, I briefly observed my body. I was trying to grasp my physical condition.

‘Huh?’

I widened my eyes. As the energy circulated through my meridians, I felt an intense strangeness there.

‘This…’

I immediately recalled the energy and focused on my heart.

Thump. Thump.

The sound of a shallow heartbeat. My heart was alive, so it was natural for it to beat.

‘This isn’t it.’

Something felt different. The energy that should have all moved to my middle Dantian wasn’t there.

Woowoong.

I moved the energy. I wanted to be more certain. Sure enough, the energy didn’t appear in my heart.

‘This…’

Towards my head. More specifically, the location called the upper Dantian.

‘……This.’

Why was the energy that was in my heart flowing from the upper Dantian area?

Not all of that large amount had gathered in my head.

Rather.

‘It seems to have decreased?’

An unbelievable amount had dwindled down, leaving only a small quantity of energy gathered in my head. That wasn’t the only strange thing.

‘There’s only one stream.’

The flowing energy was singular. I could barely feel the multiple streams of energy I used to have. Only the flow of a single stream. That gathered in the upper Dantian and flowed out.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

“…….”

As I stood there dumbfounded, Pae-jon spoke.

“I was surprised too. In all my life, I’ve never seen a case like this. Not only did the energy gather in the upper Dantian, but that complex energy actually merged into one!”

“Hmph……”

“It’s amazing enough that your body didn’t explode, but what should I even call this change? Anyway, nothing about your family’s household is normal. So, how are you? Not feeling any pain or anything?”

“……I don’t hurt. Rather.”

I felt refreshed. I felt so refreshed, my body felt light enough to soar.

“That’s only natural.”

Pae-jon continued speaking, chewing on the dried jerky in front of him.

“Having a large amount of energy is proof you can exert that much power, but it also means you’ve placed immense burden on your body.”

The amount of fuel. It’s obvious that it burdens the physical body.

“Especially since you had countless streams of energy put in, not just one. The fact that you were enduring it in the first place was nonsensical.”

You had long passed the bounds of normal. Even setting that aside, there were many crises. If you hadn’t chosen to become a dragon, your vessel would have likely burst and led to your death long ago.

I had many worries because of this.

‘Is it okay for it to decrease this much?’

Putting aside the fact that it gathered in the upper Dantian, I wondered if it was okay for the amount of energy to decrease this much. Compared to the energy I originally possessed, it was truly a minuscule amount. Barely enough to use a single martial arts technique properly…

“Don’t think you’ve lost energy.”

Reading my reaction, Pae-jon clicked his tongue and said.

“If you think about it, that’s evolution.”

“……Evolution?”

“Why does all that abundant energy seem to have disappeared?”

“I’m blankly staring because I don’t know.”

“…The useless energy disappeared, and the pure essence merged together.”

“……Pure essence?”

“Yes. If not pure essence, perhaps concentration?”

Whether concentration or pure essence… the conclusion of that explanation was singular.

“Does it mean the energy has been compressed?”

My abundant energy merged into one stream, discarding a vast amount. And what remained was this compressed, small amount of energy.

‘…Concentration.’

After hearing the explanation, I moved the energy.

Hooooo-

‘Certainly.’

It was immense. Whether concentration or compression. I could understand why Pae-jon had said that.

‘The energy feels noble.’

Noble and sacred. Something so pure it made me wonder if it belonged in my body. It flowed through me, and I felt it with every circulation.

‘It feels like it’s purifying.’

It purified all waste products and prevents anything impure from entering in the first place. Can energy be this beautiful?

As I marveled and touched the energy.

“I may not know about anything else, but I envy this.”

“Huh?”

Pae-jon said something unexpected. Envy? Did I just hear ‘I envy’ come from his mouth…? It felt like the first time I’d ever heard him say such a thing.

“With that level of purity, the quality of your martial arts will change too. You’re practically touching the dream of every martial artist right now.”

“This is that significant?”

“Quite the fortuitous encounter has happened for someone who doesn’t recognize its value. Tsk tsk…”

His constant tongue-clicking seemed genuine. Was this really power that held such value? I wasn’t sure.

‘…That it became a single stream. And that it gathered in the upper Dantian.’

It was still something I couldn’t quite grasp.

‘Should I call this a fortuitous encounter?’

Should I even consider this a fortuitous encounter? That was also uncertain.

‘Then, the seed… No… the energy of the seed? What about my ancestor’s words?’

There were so many things to figure out. Just as my head started to feel overloaded.

“If you have a lot on your mind, come out later. I’ve already set up the excuse that you fell asleep here while training.”

“……Ah. Thank you.”

Pae-jon said, getting up. Judging by his demeanor, it seemed he had already provided the excuse.

“And when you come out, find the clan head. He asked me to pass this message on.”

“…….”

It wasn’t exactly good news.

“I have business to attend to, so I won’t be able to see you today.”

“……Where are you going?”

“Not far. There are some people I need to find. Apparently, they’re nearby.”

People to find? Did Pae-jon have business finding people in Sanseo? Although I was curious, I didn’t stop him.

“Safe travels.”

My own situation was more urgent.

---

After seeing Pae-jon off, I immediately went outside. It felt like just past dawn. I moved slightly, feeling the dew-covered air. I couldn’t stay within the Gu residence, so as I stepped forward intending to head to a nearby mountain.

Whoooooosh–!!!

“–!”

I was startled by how high my body rose. It rose much higher than I expected. With just a single step.

‘What is this?’

‘I barely used any energy.’

My body truly felt like a feather; the lightness wasn’t an illusion. It felt light yet powerful. I reached my destination in the blink of an eye.

Thud.

I landed softly on the ground, stepping on a single leaf. Upon arriving at the mountain.

Hwaaaaaaaaah-!!!

“……Ooooh……”

My body trembled at the scent that permeated the air.

“What in the world is this?”

Laughter welled up. The energy from the mountain poured directly into my nose and entire body. Was it an evolution of my Ki sense? No, it was different.

‘It’s absorbing energy.’

Upon reaching the mountain, the Ki of nature poured completely into my body. Steadily filling the vessel I thought was empty. It felt like energy was accumulating.

“Sssshh……”

I quietly clenched my fists. Just like that.

Hwarururu.

I slowly conjured flames. Looking at the burning flames, I furrowed my brow.

‘It changed.’

The color of the flames had changed. Originally, it was close to a deep blue flame.

‘It’s lighter.’

A light blue. Or rather, a bright shade closer to white. Somehow, the sacredness felt within the flames seemed infinitely deep, unlike its bright color.

Moreover.

‘The shape of the flame seems different too.’

The flickering embers had a somewhat fluttering appearance. Unusually soft. Did only the shape and feel change?

‘No.’

I immediately knew it wasn’t.

‘…It’s strong.’

I felt something within my flames. Though the energy put into it was minuscule, the power of the flames produced was completely different. Strong. Even thinking about it myself, I had never conjured such high-quality flames.

“…How strong is it?”

I wondered how much power it would yield if used as an attack. I was subconsciously curious. No, even setting aside that aspect for now.

‘There’s something more amazing.’

Hwarururuk-!!!

I increased the intensity of the flames. The flames wrapped around my hand became clearer. Moreover, a lot of energy was being consumed. Even though my energy was already low, it seemed like it would run out quickly.

‘…The rate at which it’s decreasing is slowing.’

The energy wasn’t decreasing. No. The stream decreased quickly, but…

‘The rate of replenishment is fast.’

It replenished considerably fast. Whenever the energy depleted, it was refilled from somewhere. Then, where was the source of this fuel? I could figure that out too.

‘The ground.’

The ground I was standing on. And the surrounding trees. The vast sky. They all provided energy to me.

‘I see.’

Only after coming this far did I realize. It was impossible not to realize.

It seems.

‘…I seem to have become the master of this world.’

Just as my ancestor had said. I seemed to have become the master of this world.