Chapter 389: Nice to Meet You (1)

Slam-! Slam!

Loud noises echoed throughout the cave. The cave was rumbling so violently that the vibrations could be felt outside as well.

It hadn’t been that long, but it felt like an eternity of hell for me.

Slam-! Slam!
I was currently sparring against the Dishonored Venerable.

How long has it been ever since our fight began?

I believe it had been a little more than 15 minutes.

Despite it only being that long, I was already drenched in sweat.

It was strange for this to happen at my current level, but my stamina consumption was no joke as I was going all out.

Moreover…

How can this even be called a spar…!

It may have been called a spar, but it was more just a one-way beatdown. It had always been like this every time I fought against the Dishonored Venerable, but it was especially bad today.

Swoosh-!
The Dishonored Venerable’s shoulder started to move.

I had no time to think and just moved instinctively.

I quickly leaned backwards and soon after, his fist swung where my head used to be. He was aiming perfectly at my chin.

I barely managed to dodge his attack, but I then felt myself being tripped by his leg.

He was trying to break my balance. I proceeded to immediately throw my body away from him, causing me to roll on the ground, but that was a much better outcome than being successfully knocked down as that would end the fight there.

I suffered like this for a very long time.

I tried charging at him impulsively in order to land just one hit on him, but I ended up charging right into a wall face first.

I had the advantage in raw power and speed, yet I couldn’t touch his clothes.

What was the difference? I tried to find it as I continued to throw myself at him, but I still couldn’t see it.

I still had ways to go and I had to work even harder if I wanted to improve.

I dodged both his fist and leg and then scanned my surroundings. I couldn’t spend more than one second observing my opponent. I had to be faster.

I found it.

I was able to find two openings.

However…

This old man…

I frowned immediately after I found the openings. They were all feints.

This damned old man wasn’t going to let me land an attack on him that easily.

It was more annoying how I couldn’t find any other openings anywhere else.

He laid out a trap and waited for my attack.

It would be the end of me if I ran right into it. Despite knowing that, my fist was already aiming right at him.

I believed that it was better for me to try something than do nothing.

With barely any time to think it through, I simply charged right at him.

I looked at his opening and aimed my fist towards him.

With my given angle and speed, it only made sense for me to hit him faster than he could react.

However, right as my fist was about to strike the Dishonored Venerable’s side…

Swish-!
My sight spun around after I felt a mysterious sensation.

Thud-!
My body spun in the air and then was thrown to the ground.

I coughed out loud after the impact I felt in my back.

“Sigh…”
As I expected, it ended like this again huh-

“…!”
Right as I was about to take a breath, I had to move my head immediately because I suddenly found  his fist aiming directly at my face.

His fist proceeded to strike the ground with a loud slam. I would’ve become a crushed pie if I didn’t dodge.

I immediately got up after dodging his unexpected attack and shouted at him right after.

“Weren’t we finished!? How could you do that, were you trying to kill me!”
The Dishonored Venerable responded with a smirk after hearing my outrage.

“Oh, I forgot.”
“You forgot…? You are smiling right now though.”
“You naturally smile more as you get older.”
He was definitely lying. He was serious about beating me up just now.

The Dishonored Venerable’s face was then filled with disappointment.

This old man I swear. I was certain that he tried to crush my face there.

“…You are taking your anger out on me, right?”

“I’m not sure what you are talking about.”

The Dishonored Venerable pretended as if he didn’t know anything, but I was certain.

When I told him that I was caught by my father regarding the fact that I’ve been training under him, he played it off with a smile at first. Then, during our sparring session, he became much more ferocious than usual.

“I’m already in pain thanks to my eye. Are you trying to ruin the other as well?”

“It might look better if you do the same for your other eye.”

“Better my ass- Ugh!”

The Dishonored Venerable smacked my head and walked past me.

He didn’t even seem to use his Qi, but my head was aching in pain.

“You are becoming ruder as the days pass by. I swear, you weren’t like this when we first met.”

I was only being respectful on the first day. How could I continue being respectful when I have been continuously beaten up by him for the past few months?

It was impossible, for me at least.

“I can see the frustration in your eyes. Even though I should be the one who should be angry.”
I let out a deep sigh. He was referring to how my father caught me learning under him.

The Dishonored Venerable spoke with disappointment.

“You caused this mess because you couldn’t hide a simple thing.”

I couldn’t really argue with him.

“…It somehow… ended up that way.”

“What do you even mean by that? I clearly remember telling you not to use it until I gave you my approval.”

“…Ugh.”

“I finally got a disciple, but I didn’t expect him to be such a troublemaker…”

“I had to give it my all, so I- “

“Sigh. But child, what about the other Qi you have in your body then?”

“…”

I shut my mouth after hearing the Dishonored Venerable. He was now referring to my Demonic Qi.

The Dishonored Venerable witnessed me becoming a Demonic Human in my fight against the Heavenly Demon, so he was fully aware of my powers.

I might have had a better chance against Father if I used Demonic Qi like the Dishonored Venerable said…

“But… I don’t want to use that power unless I really have to.”

I didn’t want to show my Demonic Qi to others.

The Dishonored Venerable clicked his tongue hearing my response.

“I won’t involve myself in your personal matters, but don’t do anything that’ll cause me trouble.”

“…Understood.”

The Dishonored Venerable didn’t ask too much about my powers.

He probably only cared about if I was capable of learning the Heaven Destruction Art.

I too didn’t want to remember what happened back then.

I was the one who absorbed Demonic Qi from the Dishonored Venerable’s body as he was gradually being consumed by it.

If I left him be, then he wouldn’t have been able to last for a long time, even with his impressive Qi control.

After that event, I thought about getting rid of the Dishonored Venerable since I was caught.

How sickening of me to think in such a way.

I wanted to believe it was the side effect of me becoming a Demonic Human…

But it wasn’t.

It was simply me being a sick human being.

“Your mind is elsewhere again. Perhaps you need more training?”

“…Not at all.”

The Dishonored Venerable noticed me deep in my thoughts.

Though of course, the Dishonored Venerable wasn’t going to help me get rid of my problems given his personality.

“Enough about that.”

I opened my ears when the Dishonored Venerable changed the subject.

“Why did you make that decision in that last moment?”

The Dishonored Venerable was referring to the spar we just had.

He was asking why I charged at him despite me knowing that it was a trap.

Why huh…

“I couldn’t see any other openings.”

It was as simple as that.

“So you decided to run straight into a trap?”

“Yes.”

“In that case, wouldn’t it be just better for you to aim elsewhere even if there were no openings?”

“That’s what I assumed you would think, so I did something unexpected. Though of course, it didn’t work in the end.”

“…Hmm.”

I didn’t know if the Dishonored Venerable was satisfied with my response due to the  strange expression he was making.

“It wasn’t necessarily a wrong decision… but child.”

“Yes?”

“The biggest problem your method has is the fact that you don’t think about the consequences that you would face afterwards.”

Consequences, huh?

I wondered what he meant by that at first.

“Even if it means you would lose an arm, a leg, or even your life, you run straight into danger without thinking beforehand.”

“Oh.”

“I’m happy that you aren’t afraid of pain and you don’t have any fears, but there is still a need for you to be more cautious in real battles.”

I somewhat agreed with the Dishonored Venerable. Like he said, I had a bad habit of running in head first into a fight without thinking about the consequences.

The Water Dragon said that I had  God on my side, as I never got any long lasting injuries despite my fighting methods.

“…Regarding this, oh, right. I found a perfect teacher for that, so it’ll be fine.”

“Huh? Perfect teacher? Who’s going to teach me…?”

“And I’ll say it again. Do not use the Heaven Destruction Art in a real battle until I give you my approval.”

The Dishonored Venerable gave me another warning with a serious expression.

“Is it because I haven’t fully mastered the technique yet?”

“That’s part of the reason. However, there is something more important than that.”

The Dishonored Venerable spoke as he got up.

“If you use it recklessly, there is a chance that your body will be ruined.”

“Pardon…?”

I opened my eyes widely in shock hearing his words. This was the first time I heard such a thing from him.

My body could get ruined?

When I looked at him in confusion, he started to explain with an awkward expression.

“You feel pain every time you use this technique because your body is trying to shape itself with the Mind Art.”

I’ve felt pain ever since I started learning Heaven Destruction Art.

It was also why I thought that the Dishonored Venerable was insane.

When one’s body shapes itself with a Mind Art, it means that one’s bones to forcibly try and shift into the most suitable shape for it. It was basically the process of artificially creating a Celestial Martial Body.

No ordinary person would be able to endure the pain they would feel in that process. If they were able to however, they would obtain a very powerful martial art.

It was the Dishonored Venerable who made such a martial art by himself, which made it even more shocking.

“In that process… if a problem were to occur in the middle of it… then there might be a… tiny problem…?”

“…What kind of problem?”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“You say that, but your expression says otherwise.”

“It’s just… your heart might stop for a moment, or your blood vessels might explode.”

“…”

Not a big deal, he said?

I realized that I attempted something very dangerous after hearing the Dishonored Venerable’s explanation. It meant that at that moment, I could have experienced Qi deviation or even died..

I complained as soon as I learned of this fact.

“And how come you are telling me such an important thing now…?”

“It’s why I told you not to use it until I gave you approval.”

“If you told me this earlier, then I certainly wouldn’t have used it!”

“Jeez, how was I supposed to know this was going to happen? You were the one that randomly got into a fight, not me!”

When the Dishonored Venerable spoke in a speechless tone, I was at a complete loss for words.

Why didn’t he tell me earlier when it’s this important?

I could have actually died back there.

Does that mean… Father knew all of this too?

Father knocked me unconscious the instant he realized.

At the time, I thought he did that because it was dangerous for me to use two different Mind Arts, but that might not have been the actual reason.

“Anyway… you got lucky this time, but- “

“Anyway you say?”

“You’ll have to be very cautious next time.”

I was speechless when the Dishonored Venerable tried to play it off as if it didn’t happen, but I couldn’t really argue with him, as it was partly my fault it happened in the first place.

As I continued to glare at him secretly out of frustration, he asked me another question.

“When are you planning on heading to Sichuan?”

I thought he caught me staring at him for a second.

“I believe… we’ll depart in a week.”

I had to talk to the others for an accurate date, but we planned to leave in about a week.

In that time, I had to deal with a few things in Henan.

Moreover…

“Will you be okay?”

I planned to deal with what currently worried the Dishonored Venerable as well.

It was about the cave that we were currently in.

This cave was prepared for me so that I could train my Heaven Destruction Art, and I had to meet the Dishonored Venerable’s condition before I left Henan, that condition being to break through the cave using only the Heaven Destruction Art’s Mind Art.

“A week isn’t that long of a time you know?”

He spoke in a worried tone, but he was definitely entertained by this judging by his smile.

This old man wasn’t normal either.

“I’ll just have to spend less time sleeping.”

“Despite you talking in such a laid-back tone, I somehow believe in you.”

“Is that a compliment or an insult…?”

“What do you take it as?”

“An insult.”

“You are correct, you’re smart.”

This damned old man.

I stood up as the Dishonored Venerable played around.

I had to stop resting as I had many other things to do.

After taking a short break, I started to tap the sides of the cave using my hand.

Then, I started using the Heaven Destruction Art’s Mind Art.

I immediately started feeling great pain.

Squeeze-!

It felt as if my body was being squeezed on the outside while also being stabbed on the inside.

I still found it difficult to get used to this pain.

The Dishonored Venerable spoke with a smile after checking my current state.

“You always say you are exhausted, yet your expression never changes.”

“Nothing changes if I frown from pain after all.”

“What a nasty bastard you are. Oh, that was a compliment by the way.”

“…You say it was a compliment, but it feels more insulting than your last comment.”

After letting out a sigh, I immediately started to strike the cave with my fist.

Slam-!

When the cave started to vibrate, the Dishonored Venerable turned away.

“Well then, I hope you work hard.”

I asked the Dishonored Venerable a question as it seemed like he was about to leave.

“Are you leaving now?”

“Of course I’m leaving.”

After responding to my question, the Dishonored Venerable walked towards the entrance of the cave.

Then, gazing back at me, he whispered.

“My disciple’s father wants to see me, so I shall.”

After leaving the cave with a lazy expression, the Dishonored Venerable leaped away.

The Tiger Warrior being his next destination.

There was a strange rumor regarding a nameless mountain in Sichuan.

According to the rumor, there was a Demon that could speak the human language in the mountain.

Very few people believed this absurd rumor, but those who actually faced this Demon knew that it wasn’t false

The Demon that was only active at night roared loudly while showing its large muscles, and he left messy traces after his rampages.

A group of swordsmen went up the mountain to verify the rumors, however, they returned with soulless expressions.

While they confirmed that there weren’t any Demons, when people saw the expressions on the swordsmen’s faces…

-They fled in fear after seeing a horrifying Demon!

-That must be the truth, or they wouldn’t make such horrific expressions!

They only became more afraid.

A mysterious man spent his time sitting on a rock in the nameless mountain, unaware of the rumors.

He, for some reason, took off his top and showed off his beautiful muscles.

Because of his messy beard and hair, it was impossible to figure out his age.

The man held grilled fish in one of his hands and then took a big bite out of it, as if he was very hungry.

He held a letter in his other hand, and his eyes were on the letter as he devoured his fish.

The man suddenly frowned as he slowly read the letter.

“Just how many fish are you going to eat?”

A man spoke in a complaining tone, but there wasn’t anyone around him.

“Are Taoists only supposed to eat grass then? What’s the point in that? You should’ve said something when I hunted and ate a cow last time.”

Because of what the man said, an object by his waist started to activate.

After noticing that, the man started shouting in the air, despite the lack of any other presence.

“Ah, jeez! Stop shouting! Do you think I’m incapable of shouting myself? What a nasty personality you have. You said you’ll be quiet for some time after I saved a village last time. You break your promises too easily, it makes me speechless.”

Tsk, tsk.

The man clicked his tongue, and the object started to vibrate more violently.

After some time, the man took off the object by his waist and threw it aside after getting annoyed.

“How about you cool your head here. I’ll pick you back up later.”

The stick that was thrown on the ground now vibrated crazily, but the man went back to reading his letter, ignoring it.

The man would’ve argued for the whole day if it was a normal day, but he didn’t want to today.

It was a good day for him, for the first time in a while.

After finishing the letter, the man folded it carefully and put it in his pocket.

It wasn’t a long letter to begin with. It may have been short, but the content inside was extremely pleasing.

The man was in an extremely good mood right now. Perhaps this was the happiest he had been in recent times.

It was understandable.

The man murmured to himself with a bright smile.

“I’ll get to see you soon.”

The letter was sent by his bastard disciple, saying that he would visit him in the near future.