Chapter 360: Orthodox Sect Gathering. (1) (Revised)

Boom.

Grrrrid-!

The sound of scratching the wall surface with all my might, once.

The wall, which looked solid, bore marks from the passing touch.

I felt a slight resistance, but I broke through it with strength.

Boom-boom-! Boom!

While being careful not to disrupt the flow mixed with internal energy.

I continuously thrust my fists towards the wall.

As my fists hit the wall, they pierced through without obstruction.

Crackk-!

Cracks began to spread from the multiple holes. I didn’t pay them any mind and kept throwing punches.

The internal energy erupting from my lower dantian settled in my upper dantian. My entire body was clamoring, as if the heat wanted to escape.

Enduring this was crucial.

As that was precisely the most important method for maximizing the body’s capabilities.

“Huuuuh.”

As I exhaled thinly, hot air mixed with heat flowed from my mouth.

What I vaguely felt was definitely internal energy.

I rotated my upper body.

Simultaneously, I concentrated the internal energy from my upper dantian into my fist and delivered one final blow.

Crackle-boom-! Boom!

At that moment, a loud noise spread in all directions as the massive wall crumbled.

Patter-patter-!

While the fragments fell to the floor. I recalled the heat and internal energy I had spread around, catching my breath.

“Hoooh…”

After returning the energy that had spread throughout my body via the acupoints back to my dantian.

Cooling my body, which was flushed with heat, I checked my condition.

As I closed my eyes and focused on examining various parts of myself, I had to frown.

‘It’s not integrating properly.’

Although it had been a few days since I reached the Apex Realm, the enlightenment gained there wasn’t properly permeating my body.

I had trained in the Demon Realm for a long time and felt the corresponding rise in my level.

After reaching that level, I stabilized myself somewhat before returning to the Mortal Realm.

With the enlightenment gained then, I managed to reach the Apex Realm immediately even in the Mortal Realm.

‘The sense of disconnect just won’t disappear.’

There was quite a difference compared to the level I felt in the Demon Realm.

‘What’s different?’

Back then, I focused more on visualization training than physical training.

I knew I would lose everything upon returning to the Mortal Realm, and I believed visualization was the biggest issue preventing me from reaching the Apex Realm.

In the end, my prediction was correct.

Thanks to that, I succeeded in reaching the Apex Realm immediately upon arriving in the Mortal Realm.

‘If it’s like this, I’m still only half-baked.’

If you ask whether I’ve fully reached the Apex Realm, the answer is no.

It’s unstable.

It felt like my body’s balance was off; I was extremely uncomfortable.

If I were to find the reason…

‘The first reason is that I’ve never reached the Apex Realm solely through the Gu family’s inner cultivation technique.’

Because this is the first time I’ve reached this level using only the power of the Nine Flames Wheel Technique.

Since it’s different from when I boosted myself with the help of demonic energy, perhaps it’s because I’m not used to the standard path.

Even this wasn’t a certainty. It was just a guess.

If I recall the second reason.

‘There’s too much energy contained within me.’

Starting with the fire energy of the Nine Flames Wheel Technique. Then there’s the volcanic sword energy, demonic energy, and additionally, blood energy.

For other martial artists, having even two types of energy would be enough to cause them to explode due to clashes, yet…

I handle four types of energy.

What’s more, their natures are all different, and except for the sword energy, they are all incredibly violent.

As my capacity expanded upon reaching the Apex Realm.

My ability to control and use energy is far more maximized than at its peak, but…

‘The other energies have grown stronger accordingly.’

I could feel it. Should I say their assertiveness has grown stronger? Or that they’re protesting, demanding to be used?

Whatever it was, it wasn’t a welcome situation.

The sword energy, after all, is not a dangerous energy.

As long as Old Man Shin is within me, it won’t clash with my internal energy and go berserk.

It had already been mixed and used for a long time, becoming familiar to my body.

However, the remaining two energies are different.

They are like demonic beasts.

The demonic energy that cannot tolerate the existence of any energy other than itself.

And the blood energy that, though I don’t know its intentions, is stealthily trying to expand its territory.

Since I know both of them are not exactly normal energies, I want to avoid drawing them out as much as possible.

But the more I use my internal energy, the more they poke their heads out, which is quite bothersome.

‘But I can’t just get rid of them either.’

The demonic energy is already imprinted in my heart like a brand, so I can’t remove it.

And the blood energy isn’t something that leaves just because I try to remove it.

It would be best to avoid using them whenever possible.

‘I succeeded in completely converting the demonic energy into my own, but the blood energy…’

Compared to the demonic energy, which I used so much in my past life and instinctively knew how to handle.

Blood energy was an energy I couldn’t understand at all.

Perhaps because my body is a mixture of various energies, I couldn’t establish a proper framework, which is why the enlightenment is slow to permeate…

Of course, this was also an assumption.

‘…If there’s anything close to a certainty.’

It’s that even though I escaped the problem of visualization and reached the Apex Realm, I ended up hitting a wall for the same reason.

“…Tsk…”

After finishing calming my body, I slowly opened my eyes.

Time had already turned into evening.

I looked at the rising moon and recalled what happened during the day.

‘Wi Seol-ah.’

As I pictured Wi Seol-ah’s face, I sighed in relief.

I had absorbed the energy scattering when she disappeared into my body, but…

I felt nothing at all.

It might be because I only captured a very faint, truly minuscule amount of energy, but…

The fact that I felt absolutely nothing was bound to bother me.

I even kept talking to her, wondering if perhaps I could converse with her like I do with Old Man Shin, but…

Only the innocent beast responded.

[Grrr…?

‘I wasn’t calling you, so go back to sleep.’

[…Grrr….]

Had Wi Seol-ah disappeared?

Such anxiety brushed past me.

It wouldn’t be strange if she had disappeared. She herself said her strength had run out.

The things I haven’t asked and the words I couldn’t speak…

Since it’s purely my lingering attachment, it’s unavoidable even if she has disappeared.

Wi Seol-ah, who had closed her eyes in my arms then, opened them again not long after.

The words Wi Seol-ah spoke, meeting my gaze with her usual large eyes, were still vivid.

-Young Master…?

It stung.

Although a sense of relief surfaced within me at her return to normal,

What rose before that was regret and an inexplicable fatigue.

Wi Seol-ah, noticing something from my expression as she watched me, got up and said.

-Unni…? Unni…

That’s what she said.

Hearing that, I could realize it. Wi Seol-ah knew of her existence too.

Then, how much did she know?

Did she know her identity? And did she know about my situation?

Should I have asked such things?

Perhaps I should have.

But the words that came out of my mouth were not that.

-Sorry.

-Young Master…?

-I’m sorry. Right now… let’s talk later, not now.

After stroking Wi Seol-ah’s hair a few times and taking her back to the building, I came here.

It bothered me.

Because I knew I shouldn’t have just left Wi Seol-ah there.

Still, it was difficult to stand there properly.

Did she truly disappear?

It’s possible.

However, I hoped it wasn’t the case.

Although all circumstances indicated she had disappeared,

I thought otherwise.

It was because of that voice I heard near the end.

-Embrace it.

A kind and warm voice.

Even the sensation of the hand that wrapped around my arm.

‘…Mother.’

That voice was definitely…

It was my mother’s voice, hidden in memories so distant I couldn’t recall when I last heard it.

What on earth happened?

I thought about it the entire time I was moving.

In the Demon Realm, the World Tree had told me.

-Your mother is alive.

That my mother was alive.

This was something I already knew.

‘…Rather than knowing she was alive,’

I had only seen my mother head towards a portal to the Demon Realm that opened in the air when I was young.

I just couldn’t know whether she had met her death or not.

However, if the voice from back then was indeed my mother’s,

‘Where could she be…?’

How did she know to speak to me?

After that, I tried again to hear my mother’s voice, but no answer came.

‘Do you know something?’

I patted my belly.

The World Tree said this beast was connected to my mother, so I wondered if this guy had done something, but…

[Grrr?

He merely expressed confusion as if asking what I meant.

Confirming that, I bit my lip.

‘She told me to embrace it.’

To embrace the energy of the Divine Sword that was gradually disappearing.

The voice clearly said so.

The energy that rendered me completely immobile being nullified for a moment…

If that’s connected to my mother’s voice,

There must have been some meaning behind it.

Especially since I heard from the World Tree what kind of being my mother was.

‘The Master of Myriad Realms, was it?’

A being even the World Tree couldn’t easily approach,

And the second calamity that befell this world.

Just hearing those two lines of explanation was enough to know my mother was no ordinary person.

And that such a mother tried to help me.

‘If the owner of the voice is indeed my mother, then yes.’

Or it could be the intervention of another being, but that remains unknown.

In the end, I listened and embraced the energy, but I have no idea what to do next.

There must be one way to find out.

‘I need to find Mother.’

It’s an absurd conclusion.

I know the Demon Realm isn’t just one place, and I know the means to get there are scarce, but…

I still had to find her.

Because ultimately, the only person who might know what happened to the Divine Sword now is Mother.

To do that…

‘I need to meet Father.’

The one person who would surely know what happened to Mother.

As of now, it could only be the head of the Gu family, my father.

Having finished my thoughts for now.

I decided I should go find my companions to clear my complicated mind.

I hadn’t been able to properly seek them out due to what was about to happen, and I also needed to check on Wi Seol-ah now.

Just as I was about to move my feet.

“…!”

A chilling sensation made me stop in my tracks involuntarily.

Because someone was there beyond my obscured sight.

‘Since when were you here?’

I didn’t notice.

The unknown figure was leaning against the wall, looking towards me.

This unknown sensation, I had felt it before.

That means this person is definitely…

“…Greetings, Senior.”

As soon as I identified their identity, I clasped my fists together in a gesture of respect.

Hearing my words, the figure finally leaned away from the wall and approached me.

As they emerged from the darkness into the moonlight, the opponent’s face came into view.

As expected.

The man’s identity was the Dark King (暗王).

I concealed my trembling and observed the Dark King.

The Dark King wore the same expressionless face as when I first saw him. A cold expression that gave no clue to his thoughts or emotions.

Such a Dark King spoke to me.

“You seemed focused, so I waited.”

There’s an unspoken rule against spying on someone’s training without permission, yet…

The Dark King didn’t seem to care about such things.

Neither do I, for that matter.

“Do you have business with me?”

“Didn’t I say I would come see you last time?”

“…You did…”

He did say that.

I didn’t expect him to actually come see me.

‘Is that guy not normal either?’

Doesn’t someone like the Dark King consider how terrifying it would be for the person being met when he says he’ll come see them?

Then again, experts of his caliber probably don’t bother with such trivialities.

It’s a world where strength is power, after all.

‘If he wished, he could kill the Three Venerables.’

That’s the rumor circulating in the world.

That the Dark King, if he truly desired it, could even kill the Three Venerables.

Most people who hear this dismiss it as an exaggerated rumor meant to highlight the Dark King’s greatness, but…

Facing him directly, I thought it might be possible if the circumstances were right.

‘I can barely sense his presence.’

Even though he’s standing right before my eyes, his presence is still faint. Fortunately, it’s not completely imperceptible like last time.

I don’t know what effect the mask the Dark King wears has, but I could feel a tiny bit of presence.

Though when he wasn’t wearing it, I felt nothing at all.

“Kid.”

“Yes… Senior.”

The address irked me, but I didn’t mention it.

From his perspective, I was indeed a kid.

Although he looked like he was between twenty and forty years old,

The Dark King was undeniably an old master who existed even during the era when Elder Il was active.

Meaning, his age couldn’t be determined by his appearance.

Seeing me, the Dark King suddenly remarked.

“The more I see you, the more you resemble someone.”

It’s a familiar phrase. I’ve heard it so often, it makes sense.

“I hear that often.”

It must mean my father.

Most people who told me I resembled someone usually meant my father.

“Hmm?”

I thought so naturally. But upon hearing my words, the Dark King tilted his head slightly.

…Is that not it?

“Aren’t you saying I resemble my father?”

“No.”

“Oh…. Then. Who do I resemble?”

I wondered if he meant Elder Il.

It would be rather strange if he said I resembled that old man.

And it felt a bit unpleasant.

Around the time I was thinking that,

Whether he knew my thoughts or not, the Dark King mentioned another person to me.

“I’m talking about your grandfather.”

“My grandfather?”

I had heard this before.

I was puzzled then too; what kind of relationship could the Dark King possibly have with my grandfather to keep bringing him up?

Just as I was about to ask, filled with questions,

“If you resemble him that much… you must not be of blood relation.”

“Huh?”

The Dark King began speaking inscrutable words.

“It is truly puzzling.”

“What are you talking about right now…”

Thump.

“…!”

I wanted to ask the Dark King what he meant, but…

I couldn’t.

The Dark King, who was standing before me, suddenly vanished.

He reappeared right in front of me and grabbed my right arm.

Was it a surprise attack?

Startled, but just as I was about to channel my internal energy,

“Kid.”

The Dark King abruptly rolled up my sleeve.

‘Oh no…!’

I panicked.

Because a mark from my demonization remained there.

Specifically, a patch of skin about the size of a thumb, looking like reptile scales.

Just as I was wondering what to do about it,

He looked at my skin and said,

“What relation do you have with the Yeon family?”

“…What?”

Hearing that, I couldn’t help but ask again.

Because it came out of nowhere.