Chapter 152: Internal Strength Realization
There were many people looking at him with eyes full of meaning.
Wondering what on earth was going to happen, he asked, but everyone changed the subject.
For the time being, under the pretext of going to greet his family that he had returned, he shook off the others and walked trudgingly toward his house.
“I thought that if I presented the flat peach of immortality, even if there was some disappointment, it would all be resolved…”
[The fact that she would resolve her anger just because you handed her some gift means she is that vulgar. Is that child such a vulgar person?]
“That… is not so.”
[Every person prioritizes different things. Rationally, your judgment might be correct, but emotionally, it was not so at all.]
“Reason and emotion are different…”
He had moved hastily with the intention of helping Sister Seol-ah.
However, that was not what Sister Seol-ah prioritized.
“I think I understand. No, I actually knew…”
It was not that he did not know.
But the thoughts when directly in that position were indeed different from the thoughts when looking back after it had passed.
[Above all, you can’t even feed her that flat peach right now, can you?]
“…Yes?”
What on earth was this again?
He looked up at the sky with a very aggrieved look.
[Did you seriously think of just feeding it to her?]
Master Zhang Sanfeng asked back as if it was strange instead.
“Wasn’t that what I was supposed to do?”
What was contained in the flat peach, an elixir of a thousand years, was the purification of Wood Qi within the celestial peach tree.
He had firmly believed that if it was Wood Qi, it would become a mutually overcoming energy to suppress the cold energy inside Sister Seol-ah…
[Right, if that child Seol-ah’s body is sturdier than yours, nothing bad would happen.]
“…”
[Do you still not know even after experiencing mutual generation and mutual overcoming so much? The energies themselves are mutually overcoming, so would there not be a backlash?]
Hearing it this way, it made sense.
“Then what should I do?”
[Alchemical refinement must be done. Boosting the good energy, while filtering out the harmful or excessive energy. Why do you think each prestigious Orthodox sect has a representative elixir? If eaten just like that, either the medicinal effect will not be received properly, or it will be received too much and one will pass away instantly.]
“Sigh…”
A sigh escaped him naturally. It seemed that restoring Sister Seol-ah’s body to normal was a matter of the distant future.
‘My efforts in going to Suzhou, what on earth were they for…’
Of course, there were many gains.
He had obtained the divine power of wood, found a way to move his power more efficiently, and prepared a foundation for a new martial art.
He had also learned more about the Dragon Scale Squad and became alert to the mysterious power, the Crane.
He had also grasped that the movements of the Green Forest and the Yangtze River Water Network were unusual, and got acquainted with the figures of the Namgung Clan.
It was a journey where he had obtained so much that it was almost excessive.
However, because the result of the task he considered most important was not visible, his energy drained away completely.
***
Perhaps because he had been wandering around outside constantly of late, his parents did not say much when he returned from this trip to Suzhou.
“Hmph!”
Pitter-patter!
Instead, his younger brother Cheong-u ran away, showing a turbulent reaction as if an early puberty had arrived.
For the well-behaved Cheong-u to behave like that…
He must have been influenced by that fellow Baek Mu-ho.
Lastly, the meeting with his grandfather was simpler than he had thought.
He only said a single line.
“Neither too close nor too far.”
It is difficult to be close to it, yet difficult to be far from it.
It sounded like a phrase encompassing not only the Dragon Scale Squad but also the imperial palace and the existence called the Crane.
Although he felt that his grandfather was still hiding many things, he did not pry, just as he had done so far.
Because it would be useless to ask.
From the moment his grandfather brought up the phrase “neither too close nor too far,” he gave up any expectation that something would come out of his mouth.
‘That’s grandfather’s way, what can I do.’
In fact, rather than that, this side was more urgent.
***
“Have you been well?”
“Well asked, you bastard!”
The guy who had returned to the Baek Mu-ho he knew grabbed his collar and shook him.
“Die, you bastard!”
“No, that’s a bit much.”
There was so much work left to do, so it would be troublesome to die already.
Even more so when there was someone he liked.
“Then die halfway!”
“Halfway?”
‘Well, that much… is acceptable.’
Even in his own thoughts, it had been a bit severe.
The fellow Baek Mu-ho grabbed his neck and shook it for exactly one double-hour.
***
The next step after the meeting(?) with Baek Mu-ho was the Divine Monk Elder and Senior Jang Mun-gyeong.
Young Lady Jang So-wol and Young Lady Tang Sa-yeon were nowhere to be seen, and only the scary elders remained to watch him.
“It seems you are more refined than before you left?”
“You must have had a miraculous encounter.”
Baek Mu-ho beside him looked at him suspiciously.
‘Your turn has passed, punk.’
It was enough that he had let his collar be grabbed for a double-hour. What more do you want?
He brushed Baek Mu-ho aside and focused on the two elders.
“What happened?”
Fortunately, the Divine Monk Elder opened the path for the story to proceed, making it easy to pour out the things he had seen and heard while going to Suzhou.
Though he would have to leave out the stories that were difficult to reveal, such as the celestial masters or the divine power of wood.
‘What would be good to talk about first?’
“I went to Suzhou because of some business, and there are indeed some stories. Like trying the Single Reed Crossing of the Yangtze River.”
“…Did that work?”
At the words ‘Single Reed Crossing,’ the Divine Monk Elder showed interest.
“No. I just threw it all away halfway and made do with Tread-on-Water Lightfoot.”
“Must have been so… Ahem!”
[He must have tried it.]
Master Zhang Sanfeng laughed with a look of ‘as expected.’
‘From now on is the main point. Let’s focus.’
After drawing attention with a story that would moderately ease the atmosphere, he went into the proper main point.
The fight with the imperial secret organization called the Dragon Scale Squad and those named the Crane.
The fight with the Green Forest he bumped into on his way back.
“A great integration…”
They seemed quite surprised that the Green Forest and the Namgung Clan had fought a battle in Anhui.
“If it succeeds, it will indeed cause a turbulent wave.”
“If it succeeds, that is.”
However, as expected, they were cynical about the Beggars’ Sect disciple’s opinion.
In fact, this was the general reaction.
To think that seventy-two powers with different martial arts, territories, rules, ideologies, thoughts, and methods would unite into one.
Even if some forces of the Green Forest had such an intention, it would not be easily accomplished.
It was as difficult as the Nine Sects being unified into a single sect.
In fact, until now, there had never been a case where the seventy-two forts of the Green Forest truly formed a single power.
Although it was a natural sequence for the inside to unite when an enemy appeared on the outside, history also proved that things did not always flow that way.
‘But there is still something bothering me.’
The power named the Crane kept weighing on his mind.
The affair in Sichuan was like that, and this time was the same. He felt it was not a natural occurrence.
However, because it was close to a mere sixth sense without evidence, he could not voice his opinion.
“Then, the increase in your skill also means your skill naturally went up while fighting strong guys?”
“Yes… Probably so?”
Because they were accomplishments that could not be achieved without the celestial masters, he lacked confidence in his answer.
“A fellow who showed astonishing results has no energy. Even returning with all limbs intact against the leader of the Georok Fort is a matter of open-eyed wonder.”
“Do you know of it?”
“Because the Georok Fort is like a thorn to Shaolin. A long time ago, due to a certain matter, a part of Shaolin’s Formless Staff and Soft Vajra secrets flowed into it. Thanks to that, the martial arts of the fellows there look simple at a glance, but are famous for being difficult to break. Their fort leader must be a formidable expert…”
Just as the Divine Monk Elder evaluated, the axe techniques that Georok Fort Leader Ak Gun-pae unfolded looked simple but were difficult to avoid.
That must have been the subtle principle of the Formless Staff.
However, seeing that he emitted an energy that could not be considered Orthodox when unfolding his martial arts, it seemed it was not a proper secret transmission.
“It would have been good if I had accompanied you. I could have smashed them on this opportunity… Tsk!”
“Haha…”
It seemed Shaolin was not leaving the Georok Fort alone because they liked it.
It could be a matter of distance, or it could be a matter of the power structure between the Orthodox and Unorthodox.
“Even so, it is an open-eyed growth. It couldn’t have been done with talent alone… Are you the type whose results come out when rolled hard? If this is something like the achievement of the Heavy Earth Divine Art, it means there is something to be gained through this fellow… Shall I roll him hard with determination?”
‘…Why does the Divine Monk Elder suddenly look like the celestial masters?’
The sight of the Divine Monk Elder smacking his lips while looking at him felt very familiar (?).
He subtly avoided the gaze.
The reason the Divine Monk Elder broke his long seclusion and came to meet him must be related to the Heavy Earth Divine Art.
If so, he must absolutely not get involved in the monologue he just muttered.
“It seems you want to clear away the Defeng Yin Clan quickly.”
“Did you notice?”
“Although it has not been long since I saw you, you are not of a character to chatter about your martial world journeys in detail as if boasting.”
Senior Jang Mun-gyeong, who lived as crazily for martial arts as the Divine Monk Elder, was looking around a bit more now.
“In any case, we were about to move soon. We were looking into some things before you came. We have also laid hands on some parts.”
“Ah…”
It was more active than he thought.
Neither the Divine Monk Elder nor Senior Jang Mun-gyeong were of a character to care about their surroundings except for martial arts.
In fact, just as Senior Jang Mun-gyeong said, the reason he chattered about the story of this trip to Suzhou was to draw the two in.
As expected, it might be because the Defeng Yin Clan is suspected of being associated with the Blood Cult.
Come to think of it, Senior Jang Mun-gyeong had said that he had clashed with the Blood Cult in the past.
He thought there might be some story in that direction.
‘Anyway, it worked out better than expected…’
“Did nothing interesting happen with Yi Hwa?”
“…Of course not!”
Suddenly, that fellow Baek Mu-ho cut in.
For some reason, Senior Jang Mun-gyeong also sent an interested gaze.
“Didn’t you go boating together or something?”
“Boating my foot. I drank muddy water until I wanted to throw up.”
“What, how boring.”
Baek Mu-ho grumbled.
Suddenly, a desire to slam this guy’s forehead into the ground surged.
‘Come to think of it, what happened to Yi Hwa?’
Although he did not think Sister Seol-ah would harm an innocent (?) Yi Hwa, it was the first time he had seen Sister Seol-ah behave like that, so he was not entirely at ease.
‘Sister Seol-ah and Yi Hwa…’
Because both of their personalities were what they were, he could not picture them chatting and laughing together at all.
So he was even more worried.
***
When he came out of the detached house where the elders resided, he saw Sister Seol-ah and Yi Hwa coming from over there.
Whether they had joined halfway, Young Lady Jang So-wol and Young Lady Tang Sa-yeon were also together.
Fortunately, Sister Seol-ah looked calm, unlike when he saw her at the outskirts of the village.
‘Huh? Why are their expressions like that?’
No, rather than calm, would it be correct to say they looked fed up?
What was unusual was that Young Lady Jang So-wol and Young Lady Tang Sa-yeon, who were coming together, also had similar faces.
But fortunately, there were no traces of a fight.
“I have returned.”
Having returned like that, Yi Hwa stood beside me.
“…She is a very unique child.”
“…Yes?”
“Unique. Very.”
From Sister Seol-ah’s mouth flowed words that he could not deduce at all with his imagination.
What was bizarre was that Young Lady Jang So-wol and Young Lady Tang Sa-yeon also nodded in agreement.
What on earth happened on this side?
***
After returning to Samyang County, many thoughts flew and clashed enough to bring the word ‘topsy-turvy’ to mind, but the stories seemed to be wrapped up reasonably well.
Until he saw Baek Mu-ho, who came with a sheet of paper covered in writing in the evening when the sun had set.
“You remember that among the information the Jungshin Merchant Group gathered to catch the weakness of the Defeng Yin Clan, there was a story mentioning young children, right?”
“Is there something?”
“A lot.”
When he asked if there was something, he said there was a lot.
While waiting for the next words, thinking it was the answer to his question, Baek Mu-ho did not open his mouth immediately.
“Too many.”
He realized that the words of Baek Mu-ho, who spoke after pausing for a moment, were a literal expression.
He felt his blood turn cold.