Chapter 328: Darkness Returns (3)
Wooooosh.
Although they say the late winter wind has considerably calmed down, spring has still not arrived.
A weather cold enough even when wearing fur clothes. In such weather, Tang Sang-ah stood in the training ground in light martial attire with her eyes closed.
Inhale. Phew.
Unlike her usual long and calm breathing, her breathing was very short and deep.
‘…’
How much time had passed like that?
Riiip.
A small piece of paper fixed to the wall fluttered in the freezing wind before tearing and flying away.
At that moment, Tang Sang-ah’s eyes shot open.
Piiiing!
Along with a sharp sound, two Iron Coins flew drawing arcs to the left and right.
Thwack! Clang!
A hole was perfectly punched in the center of the flying paper. The two Iron Coins had pierced the same spot with a time difference. The Iron Coins that pierced the paper embedded themselves into the wall, making a sharp metallic sound.
Flutter!
The pierced paper flew up even higher.
Tang Sang-ah let out a sigh.
“I can’t control my power.”
Her hidden weapon technique was very delicate. Properly trained eye techniques, flexible wrists, and the intangible qi net spreading like a spider web… she lacked nothing in any of them.
The one thing she lacked was precisely the control of her internal energy output.
‘To think I still can’t do it. Was my effort lacking?’
That couldn’t be true.
Although many things had happened in the Murim Alliance meanwhile, Tang Sang-ah separated herself and devoted herself to training. Of course, since she belonged to the Demon-Sweeping Army, she had never missed joint training, but other than that, she focused on training, even forgetting to eat.
Was it thanks to that? Her martial arts had entered a different realm than a few months ago.
However, like countless other studies, martial arts also bound to show lacking points the higher the realm one reached.
That was the reason Tang Sang-ah was gradually going crazy for training. As she reached a higher realm and felt clearer shortcomings, it was to supplement them.
She looked at the paper flying flutteringly.
‘I thought it would be possible this time.’
She hadn’t intended to pierce the center of the paper. Her intention was to embed the Iron Coin, which flew after pressing the center, into the wall to fix the paper.
One might ask what difference it makes, but for Tang Sang-ah, it was the difference between taking one more step forward or stagnating at a decisive moment. The reason being, this itself required extremely delicate internal energy control.
Only when she was capable of such delicate internal energy control could she embody more diverse martial principles when she reached a higher place. In other words, it meant becoming stronger.
Tang Sang-ah took a deep breath.
“Whether it’s effort or talent, if it’s lacking, I have to acknowledge it as lacking. If it doesn’t work, I have to do it until it works.”
She coolly brushed off her disappointment. Just as others had grown, she seemed to have grown a lot as well.
And the driving force of that growth was precisely in the establishment of’relationships’.
Piiiiiing! Clang!
Tang Sang-ah’s eyes widened.
An Iron Coin that flew from somewhere snatched the paper while drawing an arc, and then thud! It stuck into the wall.
The ideal internal energy control she had wanted was right there. And in this Murim Alliance, the only person capable of such high-class hidden weapon techniques was just one.
“It’s not a problem of internal energy.”
Tang Sang-ah looked behind her.
Tang Kwan was walking there with his hands clasped behind his back.
“Father.”
Tang Kwan spoke in his characteristic stiff voice.
“Widen your field of vision.”
“Yes?”
Although they didn’t perfectly understand each other, the relationship between the two had definitely improved a lot. That was the reason Tang Sang-ah could focus on her training without wavering.
However, the conflict that had accumulated over the years was too deep. That was why Tang Sang-ah couldn’t easily ask her father for teachings.
“Internal energy is a product of will. Therefore, the subject that moves internal energy is also this.”
Tang Kwan tapped his own head with his finger.
Will, intent, focus.
Tang Sang-ah asked cautiously.
“Are you saying I couldn’t focus more…”
“Your concentration is sufficient. But you overlooked one thing.”
“Yes?”
“If you handle internal energy with your will, accumulating internal energy is also a product of your will. But what is that will connected to?”
“…?”
“It is this.”
Tang Kwan poked his own solar plexus with his thumb.
Tang Sang-ah’s eyes flashed.
Head, next is chest.
“The Upper Dantian, and the Middle Dantian?”
“There is no need to go that far. The important thing is that the nature of your internal energy can also subtly change depending on your mindset.”
“The nature changing? There has been development in my internal energy, but its nature is the same as before…”
Tang Kwan looked at Tang Sang-ah without saying a word.
He wasn’t exactly glaring at her; it was closer to a steady gaze. However, Tang Sang-ah felt needlessly embarrassed.
“Wait a moment.”
Tang Sang-ah closed her eyes and focused her mind on her internal energy.
‘It’s the same?’
It was the internal power of the Reversing Three Yangs Returning to Source Art directly learned from her grandfather. Thanks to her grandfather performing Transmitting Force across Bodies with a minuscule amount of internal energy, the quality of the internal energy she had accumulated so far had risen at a terrifying speed, but that didn’t mean this internal energy was her grandfather’s internal energy, right?
Tang Sang-ah opened her eyes again and was about to ask her father a question but held back.
‘He didn’t say those words for no reason. It’s just that I couldn’t see it.’
She believed in her father’s skills. Although it was a thoroughly twisted relationship, her father’s skills were real. Even among the heads of the Six Great Clans, he probably lacked nothing to compete for the top spot.
If her father said so, then it was so. She looked into her internal energy a little deeper and more seriously.
After a while.
‘…Huh?’
Tang Sang-ah’s eyes shot open. Her eyes were dyed with surprise.
“This can’t be…!”
“Do you understand now?”
Tang Kwan frowned.
“Until now, you merely followed the flow of internal power your grandfather handed over. With your talent and effort, and your grandfather’s Transmitting Force across Bodies, you could become stronger faster than anyone else, but you hadn’t completely made it your own.”
That was true.
Tang Sang-ah was mistaken. The internal energy she had cultivated so far resembled that of her grandfather, the Dark King, one of the Saintly Heaven Thirteen Seats, rather than her own.
She hadn’t thought it was strange. Her grandfather performing Transmitting Force across Bodies was not for the amount of internal energy but for the qualitative improvement of internal energy. He had literally shown her the path to take.
Naturally, it was bound to resemble her grandfather’s internal energy. That was what she thought.
But right now, her internal energy was subtly different from that of the Dark King.
“Your internal energy still resembles your grandfather’s internal energy. But its root is changing. I can see it with my eyes.”
“…!!”
“That is exactly your true internal energy.”
Tang Sang-ah burst into a hollow laugh.
“Why on earth…?!”
The question of’Why has the nature of my internal energy changed only now?’ was secondary.
She was greatly shocked by the foolishness of mistakenly thinking the internal energy she had cultivated so far was completely her own. How could she mistake this?
“It’s because you lived passively.”
“…Passively?”
“Internal energy is exactly the mind. The stronger the caster’s mind and will, the greater the power of the ego.”
“…”
“The fact that the qi in your dantian has only now become yours means that your immaturity of relying on your grandfather so far has disappeared.”
Tang Kwan took out a handkerchief from his embrace.
“Now, control your internal energy in your own way. Your grandfather must have possessed extremely strong internal energy even at your age. You are different.”
Tang Sang-ah’s eyes flashed.
Tang Kwan silently threw the handkerchief.
Flick! Wooooosh.
The handkerchief that flew like a dagger suddenly lost its power near the wall and fluttered down.
At that moment, Tang Sang-ah’s hand moved like lightning.
Ching!
The Iron Coin that flew drawing an arc pulled the handkerchief and embedded itself into the wall.
Tang Sang-ah’s expression brightened. Although it was a handkerchief heavier than paper, she still succeeded.
“Fath…!”
Her eyes widened as she turned her head to call Tang Kwan. Before she knew it, her father was striding away in the distance with his hands clasped behind his back.
“Father!”
Tang Kwan stopped walking. Of course, he didn’t look back.
Tang Sang-ah hurriedly approached him and spoke in an awkward voice.
“Thank you.”
“I didn’t teach you because you are pretty.”
“Yes?”
Tang Kwan looked at Tang Sang-ah.
“With that kind of wretched state, do not go anywhere and say you are a talent of the Tang Clan. You are lacking, far lacking.”
“Ah, yes.”
“The value of the clan’s name is never light. If you do not want to smear that name, you should at least become better than that.”
Tang Sang-ah smiled.
She now knew her father’s personality well. Perhaps he was embarrassed to have given her advice.
“Yes. I will devote myself further.”
Tang Kwan turned his head silently.
Tang Sang-ah hurriedly continued speaking.
“Are you just going to leave after coming all this way?”
“…”
“If you haven’t eaten, eat with me.”
“No.”
“Ah! You must be busy.”
Tang Sang-ah tried hard to hide her disappointment.
Tang Kwan spoke in an even stiffer voice.
“He is not a fellow who would seek someone out first unless it’s something extraordinary. Seeing him bringing even his axe, he seems to have made up his mind.”
“Yes?”
Tang Sang-ah turned her gaze to where Tang Kwan was looking with a questioning face.
“Oh? Army Commander Yeon?”
That was right. Yeon Ho-jeong was walking over there.
He wore the formal uniform of the Evil-Annihilating Army Commander and even slung the Crazy Dragon Axe over his shoulder. Seeing that the sound of iron clashing could be heard faintly, he seemed to be wearing the Flood Dragon Chain inside his clothes as well.
It was truly full armament. She hadn’t seen Yeon Ho-jeong fully armed like that recently.
However, Tang Kwan also saw what Tang Sang-ah couldn’t see.
“He’s different.”
“Yes?”
Tang Kwan’s eyes narrowed.
“Greenhorn. Did something happen? Your gaze has changed.”
Tang Sang-ah looked at Yeon Ho-jeong again.
An expressionless face. The distinct black and white gaze was still the same. She couldn’t recognize what had changed in Yeon Ho-jeong’s gaze.
After a while, Yeon Ho-jeong stopped in front of the Tang father and daughter.
“Clan Head.”
Tang Kwan asked with an indifferent face.
“For what matter have you come all the way here? Even carrying that ominous axe.”
“I have a separate favor to ask.”
“I’m sure it’s desperate.”
“But…”
Yeon Ho-jeong tilted his head while looking at Tang Sang-ah.
“Hoo? Something has changed?”
“Y-yes?”
“Your aura has changed subtly. It doesn’t seem to be because your internal energy has increased, so you must have had a separate enlightenment?”
Surprise lingered on Tang Sang-ah’s face.
Even if it was understandable for her father since he was accustomed to the Tang Clan’s internal energy, she never expected Yeon Ho-jeong to see through her change at a glance.
“Whatever it is, congratulations. It seems you are wearing clothes that fit you much better than before. I look forward to your future development.”
“Th-thank you.”
Yeon Ho-jeong nodded and looked at Tang Kwan again.
Tang Kwan’s eyes deepened.
“So, what is the matter?”
“Before asking the favor, please take a look at this first.”
Wooooong.
Yeon Ho-jeong grabbed the shaft of the Crazy Dragon Axe and held it out forward.
He held out a great axe weighing over eighty geun as lightly as a hand axe. It was still incredible physical strength.
Tang Kwan, who had been quietly looking at Yeon Ho-jeong, lowered his gaze to the Crazy Dragon Axe.
“Hmm.”
Tang Kwan, who stroked the blade of the Crazy Dragon Axe, nodded.
“It’s considerable. I don’t know which craftsman made it, but it wouldn’t lack anything to be called a master craftsman.”
It was an evaluation that came from Tang Kwan’s mouth. It was truly nothing short of high praise.
“But why are you showing me this?”
Yeon Ho-jeong lowered the axe.
“Please make me a few more axes.”
“What?”
“They don’t have to be as good as the Crazy Dragon Axe, but I’d like you to pay as much attention to them as possible.”
“…I’ve known for a while that your arrogance pierces the sky. Daring to ask such a favor from the Head of the Tang Clan, I shall ignore that for a moment.”
“…”
“What is the matter?”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes became desolate.
Tang Kwan felt his chest turn cold in an instant.
“It seems there will be some blood spilled.”