Chapter 335: Aiming at the Light (3)
The next day.
“It’s been a while since I’ve sweated a bit.”
Having finished the Evil-Annihilating Army’s training, Yeon Ho-jeong’s body was soaked with sweat.
Perhaps because he stepped back from the Murong Clan’s side and the political board of the Murim Alliance, he had some peace of mind. Of course, he still had his senses keenly focused in various directions, but compared to the past, the things to pay attention to had been reduced to less than half.
Thud.
Putting down the Crazy Dragon Axe, he took off his upper garment.
His sweat-soaked upper body was filled with near-perfect muscles. On the outside, he might look slender, but in reality, his muscles were compressed to the limit, possessing top-tier explosive power and endurance.
“Huuup.”
Taking a deep breath, he lifted the Crazy Dragon Axe.
As soon as the Evil-Annihilating Army’s training ended, he entered into personal training. Since he hadn’t been able to make time for training due to various matters recently, he intended to do the maximum amount of tempering when he could.
Huuung.
Yeon Ho-jeong’s appearance, holding the Crazy Dragon Axe with both hands and raising it behind his head, was truly like a statue.
Tremendous elasticity could be seen from his pectoral and abdominal muscles stretched to the limit. The muscles on his back, which were not well revealed when he stood straight, spread wide as if they were wings.
Yeon Ho-jeong slowly moved the Crazy Dragon Axe.
‘Kkeu-eung.’
It was an incredibly slow movement.
He moved the Crazy Dragon Axe, which weighed over eighty geun, at an extremely slow speed. Even after the time it takes to drink a cup of tea had passed, it was a speed where the Crazy Dragon Axe he had raised behind his head was only just coming over his forehead.
It was blunt sword training that stimulated the muscles of the entire body, from his upper body to his lower body, while swinging. It was a speed three times slower than the training he had done when he went to escort Gi Wu-hui in the past.
Crack!
The load placed on his muscles increased terrifyingly. His entire upper body turned red. The load on his joints was also maintaining a precarious limit line.
‘As expected, it is hard.’
It was training that even a peak master couldn’t easily endure, and a Clan Head-level master of the Six Clans would find hard to sustain without protecting their joints with internal energy.
So to speak, it was training bordering on madness. Even with the mysterious power of internal energy, the vast majority of martial artists would find it hard to endure.
It was an extreme training possible only for Yeon Ho-jeong, who had built his body with training that transcended human limits and dense true qi. Even Yeon Ho-jeong could have his joints shattered if he let his guard down.
Uuung! Uuuuung!
The Yeon Clan’s Divine Elixir trembled madly.
When the Crazy Dragon Axe reached his solar plexus, his physical body began to reach its limit. In order to protect that physical body, the Yeon Clan’s Divine Elixir was sending a danger signal, and Yeon Ho-jeong cleanly ignored that signal.
Throb! Throb!
His tightly gathered pectoral muscles began to turn blue, beyond dark red.
Like that, the time of two ke passed again.
The blade of the Crazy Dragon Axe touched a pebble on the ground.
Puseuseuseu.
The blade touched it, but it didn’t split, it crumbled. It was because the pressure of the true qi loaded on the Crazy Dragon Axe was incredible enough to transcend imagination.
At the same time, Yeon Ho-jeong let go of the Crazy Dragon Axe.
Thud!
“Keo-heok!”
Spitting out rough breaths, Yeon Ho-jeong plopped down on the spot.
“Heo-eok! Heo-eok!”
It felt like the blood in his entire body had stopped and then started moving again at high speed in an instant.
It didn’t cause any damage to his joints, but the muscles of his entire body had gone to the brink of rupture. If he hadn’t protected his internal organs with the Four Gods Qi, two or three of his five viscera and six bowels would have burst.
“Cough! D-damn it.”
Drops of blood came out mixed with his dry cough. Even though he protected his internal organs, he couldn’t avoid internal injuries. It was because the pressure transmitted to his abdomen itself was immense.
It wasn’t simply because he swung the Crazy Dragon Axe slowly, but because he had adjusted the axe’s power while imagining an enemy’s attack at every moment.
‘Still, it is possible without using internal energy other than to protect my body.’
He had swung the Crazy Dragon Axe for close to half a shichen with pure physical strength. It was not human strength.
Yeon Ho-jeong took a deep breath.
Flash!
A beautiful blue-green radiant light brightly bloomed from his body.
The Yeon Clan’s Divine Elixir moved more actively than ever. Like water pouring like a waterfall when a dam breaks, the speed at which his true qi traversed the blood points of his entire body and healed his muscles and internal injuries was terrifying.
Before he knew it, Yeon Ho-jeong’s face regained its color.
“To think it’s this much with just one training session… This is very good.”
The muscles of his entire body were running wild.
It was an extreme level of activation that he hadn’t tasted in any battle. No matter how much it was Yeon Ho-jeong, it wasn’t a training he could do often, but the advantages he could gain from a single training session and recovery were immense.
‘The physical body is the vessel that contains enlightenment. My problem right now is that the gap between my enlightenment and my physical body is excessively large.’
To resolve that, he was trying to unite the Five Great Divine Arts of the Yeon Clan. It was an intention to forcibly raise the level of his physical body through the unification of the various internal energies obtained from the divine arts.
However, if he repeatedly performed today’s training, it seemed he could reach that realm faster than he thought.
The ultimate realm that only absolute beings could catch a glimpse of. A supreme state where one could go head-to-head with a major sect-level military force single-handedly, without the need for any strategies, tactics, or petty tricks.
It seemed he could reach the world of the Martial God where the Saintly Heaven Thirteen Seats roamed more quickly.
‘I’ve already clashed with an Eighteen Martial Generals-level master of the Divine Fire Cult. If those bastards aren’t fools, they would have started investigating long ago. It will take time because of the Murim Alliance’s eyes, but they will realize my existence someday.’
Huuuuuung.
The blue-green radiant light emitting from his entire body gradually subsided. His body had recovered to some extent.
‘Faster, more certainly, more radically.’
Yeon Ho-jeong picked up the Crazy Dragon Axe.
Neither his muscles nor his internal injuries were completely healed. Even so, it felt much lighter than before the training. It was as if all the muscular nerves that had been sleeping all this time had awakened explosively.
Feeling satisfied, Yeon Ho-jeong spoke with a calm voice.
“Training is over.”
“As expected, you knew?”
Flap!
Over the wall of the Army-Destroying Pavilion, Ga Deuk-sang landed.
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes widened.
“Your movements have become lighter.”
Ga Deuk-sang clicked his tongue.
“You can see that?”
“Isn’t it strange if I couldn’t see it? It seems your true qi has also become a level denser.”
“Truly, Young Master Yeon’s discernment alone would not be lacking even if called the best of the era. I am still curious. Just how on earth did you become such a monster at that age?”
How could he explain all those long circumstances. Yeon Ho-jeong merely smiled.
“Anyway, it’s a truly fascinating body. You do blunt sword training holding a crazy heavy weapon that weighs over eighty geun? Won’t your body get ruined doing that?”
“I am adjusting it on my own.”
“Well, who am I to worry about.”
Ga Deuk-sang, who had quickly stepped down to the ground, dusted his hands and spoke.
“Since there is no time, I will get straight to the point. We kept an eye on the Murong Clan’s side.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes shone.
“How was it? Were there any suspicious movements?”
Ga Deuk-sang sighed.
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
“In truth, when one reaches the level of a Clan Head of the Six Great Clans, there are no flaws in handling matters. Young Master Yeon, who has watched Clan Head Yeon from the side, would know that well.”
“Hmm.”
“There definitely seemed to be suspicious movements. In particular, we looked into Murong Lotus Flower’s movement path, and unlike usual, she looked around here and there in the inner castle.”
“And?”
“It is definitely suspicious, but we didn’t see any movements like sending carrier pigeons or having someone leave the alliance. Of course, we placed people everywhere she stopped by, but it is said that they didn’t feel anything particularly strange either.”
Yeon Ho-jeong nodded.
“Murong Lotus Flower moved differently than usual. That alone is enough.”
“I am sorry.”
“Do not think so. Just like what the Successor of the Beggars’ Gang said, if Murong Jun resolves himself and tries to hide it, it is difficult for anyone to know.”
Ga Deuk-sang smacked his lips. He was sorry towards Yeon Ho-jeong, but he was upset that the Beggars’ Gang, which was called the best in the Central Plains in terms of information and intelligence in its own way, couldn’t catch the opponent’s tail.
“Anyway, Murong Lotus Flower moving differently than usual means that there must be something with her.”
“That might be so, or it might not. Let’s watch that gradually.”
“Let’s do that. Ah! And…”
“Yes?”
Ga Deuk-sang’s face became serious.
“Regarding the information base of that place called the Divine Fire Cult.”
“…?”
“First of all, it’s not like there is a problem there, but there is something slightly uncomfortable.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes shone.
“What is it?”
“The Strategist ordered the members of our Union to observe the movements in central and northern Henan. I mean the government’s side.”
“…!”
No matter how weak the Empire’s power had become, observing the government’s movements was an extremely dangerous matter. If by any chance that fact was discovered, the Government-Murim relationship would deteriorate terribly.
Of course, they secretly kept an eye on each other, but that was literally only on the line of not being revealed. If that fact became openly known, a huge political problem could erupt.
In other words, Zhuge Wen-hu thought it was necessary to observe the government’s side even while taking such a risk.
“And?”
“We received intelligence that an unnamed master is heading south.”
“An unnamed master?”
“Yes.”
Ga Deuk-sang’s face was extremely serious.
“The world is wide, and there are many masters who act without revealing their names. Excluding that possibility, our Union knows the vast majority of masters active in Henan Province and Hubei Province.”
“…”
“However, we caught the existence of a master we’ve never heard of or seen before. According to the intelligence, the martial prowess of that unnamed master is said to be at least at the level of a Clan Head of the Six Clans.”
“…!”
“A Clan Head-level master of the Six Clans. No matter how wide the world is, there aren’t many masters of that caliber. Naturally, our Union grasps the movements of all peak masters active in Henan and Hubei, but he is not one of them. As a result of examining his description, he is a master who has never been active in the Murim until now.”
“…His attire?”
“That is exactly why we are suffering from a headache.”
Ga Deuk-sang frowned.
“He didn’t wear a government uniform, but he was wearing the clothes of a high-ranking official distributed by the government.”
“…!”
“And on those clothes… there was a red epaulet that only those at the level of an Assistant Provincial Military Commander or higher can wear.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s face hardened immediately.
Sixteen Provincial Military Commissions existed in the Central Plains. And each Provincial Military Commission commanded the Guard Posts of one province.
Among them, an Assistant Provincial Military Commander was a high-ranking official of which only four existed in each province, a powerful person corresponding to the Upper Third Rank. It could be said that it was on a different dimension from the Twelve Martial General, Gyu Jeok’s Garrison Commander post of the Divine Fire Cult.
“And that person is heading southwest from central Henan. Exactly where the Murim Alliance and the Dabie Mountains are located.”
“…I see.”
“We don’t know yet if he is a figure from the Divine Fire Cult’s side. What is a bit strange is that if he didn’t want to be discovered externally, he should have avoided such attire, but he boldly wore official clothes distributed by the government. This is a bit strange.”
“There is nothing strange about it.”
The corners of Yeon Ho-jeong’s mouth twitched.
“An Assistant Provincial Military Commander is on a different dimension from a mere Garrison Commander of a Provincial Military Commission. If he really is a figure from the Divine Fire Cult’s side, it is rather difficult for us to touch him. Because an investigation will come directly from the Empire.”
“Hmm, that is true.”
Ga Deuk-sang’s eyes shone.
“Then what will you do? Will you personally go and dig into his background?”
“Well.”
Yeon Ho-jeong looked down at the Crazy Dragon Axe.
“…How should I handle it this time?”