Chapter 42: Golden Blood Rat (4)
Chapter 41 – Golden Blood Rat (4)
Yun Jong-seung, who had run into the cave, muttered blankly.
“D-Did he really eat it…?”
Some distance away, the Golden Blood Rat, its belly split open, lay limp and sprawled on the ground.
In front of it, Namgung Cheon, who sat cross-legged, did not budge.
Yun Jong-seung ran over.
“Namgung Cheon!”
However, just before he could grab Namgung Cheon’s shoulder, Paeng Su-hyeok snatched his sleeve.
“Are you crazy?”
“What is it? That guy really ate the Golden Blood Rat, didn’t he?”
“Can’t you see he’s circulating his qi right now? This bastard just ate the core. If you touch him now, you’ll be screwed. I want to beat him to a pulp right now, but let’s watch for now.”
“Ah…”
Only then did Yun Jong-seung understand the situation and take a step back.
Indeed, a warm energy was rising like a haze from Namgung Cheon’s entire body.
Unable to do anything to Namgung Cheon immediately, Paeng Su-hyeok paced around the cave entrance.
It was obvious from his expression that he wanted to rush in and beat him up right away.
How long had they waited like that?
By the time their absurdity and anger had cooled down to some extent, the energy that had been spreading from all over Namgung Cheon’s body was finally gathered back, as if being absorbed into his body.
Ssssss.
Soon, when Namgung Cheon opened his eyes, a bright light shone in them.
“Kuuuerrrk!”
Namgung Cheon even let out a long belch.
“I ate weeeeell.”
He stood up, dusting off his butt.
Paeng Su-hyeok, who had been watching hesitantly, gaped in disbelief.
“Oh, you’re here?”
Namgung Cheon greeted him casually.
Finally, Paeng Su-hyeok, who had completely lost his temper, rushed over in a single bound and grabbed Namgung Cheon by the collar.
“You bastard! How could you kill the spiritual beast?!”
“I’m the one who caught it, wasn’t I? Did you catch it?”
“T-That’s not it, but… don’t you even think about your team members?”
“As you know, it’s not like we can split the core and eat it. Besides, the moment you process the Golden Blood Rat’s core, its efficacy drops…”
“That’s not what I mean!”
“Then what? You have to speak precisely for me to understand. Why is he like this?”
Instead, Namgung Cheon turned to Yun Jong-seung as if he found it absurd.
As Yun Jong-seung only wore a blank expression, Jin So-hong stepped forward.
“Right now, we haven’t caught a single spiritual beast. That’s why he’s doing that.”
“We caught one.”
Namgung Cheon pointed at the dead Golden Blood Rat.
Paeng Su-hyeok growled.
“Yeah, we caught one. A special-grade spiritual beast at that. But you ate it!”
“What does that matter? The hide is left.”
“What?”
“You must have heard it too. The instruction to catch it by any means necessary.”
“But they didn’t say we could kill it!”
“Let’s get the facts straight. They said to catch it by any means necessary. They didn’t say we must not kill it.”
“That’s…”
Tongue-tied, Paeng Su-hyeok only scowled heavily.
Jin So-hong nodded quietly.
“Indeed, it’s not a situation to be pessimistic about yet. Namgung Cheon’s words make sense.”
“Hmph! If they don’t accept it as having caught a spiritual beast, it’s all because of you!”
“That won’t happen, but even if it did, I think it’s better than someone who caught a spiritual beast only to let it go. What about that responsibility?”
“Keugh! That was because you said something unnecessary…!”
Paeng Su-hyeok yelled out, then gnashed his teeth and spun around.
As he strode out of the cave, Yun Jong-seung approached with a hollow expression.
“You said you would think of a way to move it safely…”
“So I made it as safe as could be.”
“Sigh… it certainly is safe, I suppose.”
Yun Jong-seung grabbed the head of the limp Golden Blood Rat and lifted it up.
The Golden Blood Rat, having lost its core, was now dripping red blood. Its eyes had also changed to a normal black.
It no longer even looked like a spiritual beast.
Namgung Cheon patted Yun Jong-seung on the shoulder.
“Take good care of it. It’s a precious thing.”
Precious, my foot. He ate all the good parts by himself.
The complaints he wanted to grumble rose to his throat, but he held them back.
Although only the hide remained, it was still the sole proof that they had caught a spiritual beast. Besides, his stomach, where he had been hit earlier, was still throbbing.
Stepping out of the cave, Namgung Cheon rubbed his dantian once.
It certainly felt reassuring.
And it was fast.
The flow of qi was noticeably faster than before.
He had clearly felt it when he completed the Great Heavenly Cycle to make the Golden Blood Rat’s energy completely his own, and then circulated his internal qi once more.
That the flow of his energy had become much faster.
This was something that could only be obtained through the Golden Blood Rat’s core.
This was the very reason why he had wanted to find the Golden Blood Rat so badly in his past life.
Stalactite nectar, ten-thousand-year snow ginseng, ten-thousand-year fleeceflower root, and the like. These precious spiritual medicines bestowed a significant amount of internal qi, but they had no effect on the speed of qi circulation.
But the Golden Blood Rat was different.
Once you make it completely your own, the flow of your energy becomes faster.
The nature of the internal qi had changed.
As a result, the body became lighter and all martial arts became faster.
It was incredibly effective when executing movement techniques.
Therefore, to a runaway, there was no tonic more precious than the Golden Blood Rat’s core.
And that was not all.
Since the circulation of qi became faster, it was also of great help in increasing internal qi when practicing mental cultivation methods.
For instance, if it were internal qi that would normally take ten days of training to accumulate, it could now be accumulated in just nine days.
Namgung Cheon smiled pleasantly.
‘Good, very good.’
In other words, a body perfectly suited to learning the Namgung Clan’s sword art, which valued both speed and weight equally, had been created.
‘To value both speed and weight equally in the first place. Isn’t that demanding too much?’
How could that be possible unless one ate something like a Golden Blood Rat?
It was the law of nature that if one focused on weight, speed would be lacking, and if one focused on speed, weight would be lacking.
Yet the Namgung Clan tried to catch both rabbits.
Well, that was probably why they took pride in it as the sovereign sword form.
Surely, the ancestor who created the Namgung Clan’s sword art had either eaten a Golden Blood Rat or had been an excessive idealist.
At any rate, thanks to the Martial Alliance, he had received an unexpected gift.
“Shall we head back now?”
If they wanted to return before dawn, they had to set off now.
* * *
If they took the fastest route from Mount Mulan to the Martial Alliance, they would have to pass through the North Gate.
However, since the Martial Alliance did not have a North Gate, they had to return through the East Gate.
And right now, at the entrance of the East Gate, four cadets were waiting for someone by the roadside.
The one checking his sword blade under the moonlight with a face as cold as ice was Murong Gang; the one sitting on a rock, fiddling with flying daggers, was Tang Wu-gi; the one constantly brandishing a spear in flashy movements was Yue Goeng; and the one lying on the ground with his belly exposed, snoring, was Hwangbo Seung.
Rubbing two daggers together with a metallic rasp, Tang Wu-gi muttered.
“Surely those guys aren’t failing to show up just because they couldn’t catch a spiritual beast?”
“If so, it wouldn’t be bad since it reduces the work we have to do, would it?”
Yue Goeng replied, continuously brandishing his spear in a dazzling manner.
Even though his breath should have been ragged, his voice remained unchanged.
“It would be a waste of our time spent waiting. Besides, this time, we have to punish these bastards for sure.”
Tang Wu-gi looked at the broken arm of Hwangbo Seung, who was snoring in his sleep.
Although it seemed he had received decent first aid after having his arm broken by Namgung Cheon, the pain must still remain.
As if he had heard everything Tang Wu-gi said even while sleeping, Hwangbo Seung waved his hand around.
“Mumble. It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m naturally born with a sturdy martial frame, so this kind of thing heals quickly. It was all because I let my guard down. Mumble…”
Just then, Murong Gang sheathed his sword blade and muttered softly.
“We will wait for half an hour more, and if they don’t come, we’ll head inside.”
“Well, that’s a shame, but nothing can be done about it.”
Tang Wu-gi shrugged his shoulders and pulled the rope tied to his wrist.
Haaaak!
The sound of a furious beast was heard from behind the rock.
It was a cat with reddish-brown fur and particularly prominent white fangs, the Red Cat Seol-ah.
A high-grade spiritual beast released by the Martial Alliance.
Although it let out a hissing sound, it was so terrified that its fur stood on end, and it did not budge.
When Tang Wu-gi pulled the rope, the Red Cat Seol-ah, which had been resisting stiffly, was dragged along.
“Well, even if that ragtag bunch catches anything, it’ll probably just be a common low-grade spiritual beast.”
“Whatever it is, we have only one thing to do.”
Tang Wu-gi nodded at Murong Gang’s words.
“To make it impossible for them to return within the time limit. Let’s crush them completely this time.”
“Don’t let your guard down.”
At Murong Gang’s cold warning, Tang Wu-gi let out a groan and turned his gaze away.
When about fifteen minutes had passed, Yue Goeng, who had still been performing his flashy spear dance, paused and turned his gaze.
He stared intently into the darkness, then drove his spear upside down into the ground and lightly leaped onto it.
The way he managed to balance himself was like watching an acrobatic feat.
“They are coming.”
“Oh? It looks like they caught a spiritual beast?”
As Tang Wu-gi quickly got to his feet, Yue Goeng replied with a slight frown.
“They are carrying something, though it doesn’t seem to be moving at all.”
“Well, they might have knocked it out and carried it.”
“In any case, whatever it is has nothing to do with us. We just need to defeat them, right?”
Yue Goeng grinned and stepped down to the ground.
A moment later, just as Yue Goeng had said, Namgung Cheon’s group appeared over the hill.
There was still about half an hour left before sunrise.
Tang Wu-gi blocking the path, sneered.
“You managed to catch a spiritual beast, it seems. But that is… Huh? A rat? What? Is it dead?”
Murong Gang also frowned and looked at the limp Golden Blood Rat.
Hwangbo Seung, who had just woke up from his sleep, rubbed his eyes and said.
“Is that really a spiritual beast? It looks ordinary.”
“Did these bastards just catch a common rat and insist it’s a spiritual beast?”
“Indeed. I have never heard of a spiritual beast that looks like that.”
Yue Goeng also stepped forward, brandishing his spear dazzlingly.
At that, Jin So-hong took a step forward and questioned them.
“What does that have to do with you? Just get out of the way.”
“Oh, the young lady has a harsh tongue. Since we are strictly in the middle of an exam, I don’t think there is any reason for us to move aside meekly.”
As Tang Wu-gi spoke sarcastically, Namgung Cheon stepped forward this time.
“So you want to fight?”
“Surely the official pushover of Dragon Heaven Academy is quick-witted. Is that what they call reading the room?”
Hwangbo Seung giggled at Tang Wu-gi’s words.
Namgung Cheon grinned.
“When it comes to reading the room, I’m second to none. But is it really okay for you to call me that?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“It would be even more embarrassing if rumors spread that you were beaten to a pulp by the official pushover of Dragon Heaven Academy. Well, though you already were beaten to a pulp.”
“You bastard… that was just because we let our guard down…”
As Tang Wu-gi ground his teeth and stepped forward, Namgung Cheon raised his hand.
“Never mind that. Did you guys catch anything?”
“Of course. Unlike you guys with a dead rat, it’s a real, living spiritual beast. A high-grade one at that.”
With a twist of his lips, Tang Wu-gi pulled the rope, and the Red Cat Seol-ah was dragged out from behind the rock, looking utterly furious.
Haaaak!
Seeing this, Namgung Cheon wore an impressed expression and suddenly held out the limp Golden Blood Rat.
“Oh, let’s trade!”
“What… you punk…?”
“Even if it looks like this, it’s a special-grade. It’s better. Let’s trade.”
“This crazy bastard… who do you think you’re playing for a sucker?”
Veins bulged on Tang Wu-gi’s forehead.
Regardless, Namgung Cheon spoke clearly.
“Since you got beaten up by a sucker, wouldn’t you also be a sucker?”
“You…!”
In an instant, Hwangbo Seung strode forward and yelled out.
“How dare you act so high and mighty just because you got lucky once! Come! I’ll beat you to a pulp!”
“I don’t deal with cripples. Jong-seung.”
“U-Uh?”
Yun Jong-seung answered in a daze and stepped forward.
Namgung Cheon gestured toward Hwangbo Seung with his chin.
“You deal with him.”
“M-Me…?”
Yun Jong-seung’s eyes widened.
He wants me to deal with Hwangbo Seung of the Seven Great Martial World Clans?
Namgung Cheon replied casually.
“Since you have dwelled on the pain that much, it’s about time you see the way forward.”