“…Why are you staring at like that? It’s unsettling.”
The Beast Palace Lord set down the chopsticks he had been raising to his mouth, wearing a displeased expression.
It happened during one of the als we frequently shared ever since Tang Sowol began his full-fledged treatnt.
“I just suddenly grew curious, that’s all.”
“Are you wondering how a half-dead old man can still eat at so well? My teeth are sturdy, that’s all. Fortunately so.”
“You really do see the world in a twisted way. I was simply curious whether, if soone else learned the ‘beast’ portion of the Beast Palace’s martial arts, it would link person-to-beast or person-to-person.”
“So you want to handle a person like a trained beast? Hard to see that in a positive light, but to answer—no, that’s impossible. The martial arts of the Beast Palace only help communication flow better; they don’t cloud intelligence or force behavior.”
“That actually was the aning behind my question. And I do wonder why the distinction between human and beast matters so much. In the end, humans are just intelligent beasts, aren’t we?”
“The twisted one is right here.”
The Beast Palace Lord shook his head and laughed.
It was an outrageous accusation, yet surprisingly, several people nodded as if agreeing.
Notably, my companions—and ng Yubaek, who nodded reflexively before freezing in shock.
The only exception was the Beast Palace Lord’s eldest son, ng Yugak, who watched his younger sister with a complicated expression.
For reference, ng Gyeom had been making excuses and refusing to co out ever since the Demon Physician left.
He must have realized he no longer had a chance at becoming palace lord, and was preparing to gather what he could before leaving.
Of course, he might be preparing a decisive move to overturn the already-set board, but… honestly, that possibility was low.
ng Gyeom might be reckless, but he wasn’t stupid. In fact, he was rather sharp—just not sharp enough.
ng Yugak, who was practically confird as the next Beast Palace Lord, had a sturdy, honest-looking deanor. As I imagined what the future Beast Palace might look like under him… I couldn’t picture it easily.
Naturally so—before my regression, even up to my death, ng Yugak never inherited the Beast Palace Lord’s seat.
Perhaps because ng Gyeom was still a competitor back then, but more likely because the current Beast Palace Lord, ng Oh, remained so absurdly vigorous it seed he might outlive his pri.
While I quietly nodded to myself, the Beast Palace Lord grinned and spoke.
“Why did you suddenly fall silent? If it struck a nerve, don’t worry. High-realm martial artists always have a few screws loose sowhere.”
“I don’t know where you’ll find soone as properly upright as I am. I just asked because I recently gained so insight.”
“Insight, eh? Now that you ntion it, your atmosphere is slightly different from before. Seems the Beast Palace’s secret arts helped you. If so, I’d appreciate you sharing that insight with as well.”
Perhaps because he knew his treatnt was progressing smoothly, he acted far brighter and more playful than when we first t.
Since what he said wasn’t unreasonable, I smirked.
“Not a bad idea. I’m not sure whether this is what the Beast Palace Lord had in mind, but I did gain plenty, so giving so back should be fine.”
“Oh? I appreciate it, but… that was a joke, you know. Don’t misunderstand it as a demand.”
“Don’t worry. Nothing like that. Have you t anyone from the Namgung Clan before?”
“I know they’re a fad sword clan of the Central Plains, but I’ve never seen them personally.”
“They’ve helped greatly in multiple ways. They aren’t closed-minded about martial arts—quite open, in fact. In exchange for learning my swordsmanship, they taught the Namgung sword.”
“Ohh… from what I know, martial artists of the Central Plains value their martial arts more than their lives. Surprising.”
“That much is true of the Namgung Clan as well. But because they value it, they do so.”
Swordsmanship is a technique; it grows faster through exchange than through hoarding.
What they must protect isn’t a set of movents, but the Namgung sky.
Under that philosophy, they held an open attitude toward martial arts and maintained their title as the strongest clan for generations.
Their sword embraced all swords—the sky above all blades, and the king ruling over them.
For soone like , endlessly thirsty for advancing martial arts, it was an unforgettable philosophy. I agreed with much of it.
“So, I don’t want to be stingy with martial arts either. Though unlike the Namgung Clan, I can’t go as far as ‘steal it if you can.’”
“I see. If that’s how you think, then I’m grateful to hear it.”
Since we were on the sa boat now, maintaining strong ties was beneficial—and it was more effective than I expected.
The Beast Palace Lord, ng Yugak, and ng Yubaek all looked at with impressed expressions, and I felt my face warm.
I cleared my throat lightly to chase away the embarrassnt and continued.
“Ehem. You told before—spiritual beasts of divine rank leave sothing behind even at death.”
“I did.”
“So I observed what it left behind, and thanks to the Beast Palace’s teachings, I was able to accept it.”
“I doubt what it left for its killer was anything pleasant.”
“My killing intent was far more vicious, so it was fine.”
The Beast Palace Lord stared at , stunned, so I gave him a gentle smile and continued.
“I added the Azure Cold Serpent’s lingering will to my own willpower. And now, if I choose, I can see the world through the sight she had in life.”
“She?”
“She was female. I rember clearly—I killed her offspring too.”
His expression shifted to that of soone looking at a deranged killer, so I quickly added,
“It was an all-out battle where we used every thod to kill each other. She simply died in the order of the weaker.”
“…We’ll go with that.”
The atmosphere grew slightly awkward—not my intention—so I quickly moved on.
“Anyway, the point is this: I gained the sight of a divine beast, one that views the world differently from humans.”
“And what’s different specifically?”
“I can see the flow of energy.”
“Hmm???”
“I’m saying I literally see it with my eyes, not just sense it.”
Naturally, no matter how sharp one’s senses, sensing could never surpass actual sight.
And I hadn’t lost my energy sense—this was an addition—allowing to observe the flow with far greater detail.
“For example, you and the Black Claw… that’s the panther’s na, yes?”
“Correct.”
“I can see how your internal energies operate.”
“…What?”
The Beast Palace Lord widened his eyes, unable to brush that aside.
Understandable. It sounded dangerously close to perceiving one’s cultivation thod.
I shook my head with a wry smile.
“Not that far. If I could read a cultivation thod just from the outside, I would’ve sensed sothing ages ago.”
“Ah, so you’re seeing what you normally sense, but visually.”
“Exactly. All I sense through energy sense is that you and Black Claw are linked through a shared cultivation thod. So that’s all I can see as well.”
With that, I looked quietly at Black Claw.
Would a divine beast–level creature understand human speech?
As if reacting to my gaze, the beast stopped lounging lazily and grew alert.
I sensed its swirling energy through both perception and sight, then spoke.
“Beast Palace Lord, have you ever considered this? Other Beast Palace warriors have martial ability similar to their partner spiritual beasts. Since their qi is shared, it’s natural. But you and Black Claw do not match in the slightest.”
“Well, that’s because the realm of divine beasts isn’t sothing easily reached.”
“The Flowering Stage isn’t easy either.”
“True, but still…”
“Tell —how many previous Beast Palace Lords raised their partners to the level of divine beasts?”
“Other than our founder, who beca close friends with the Heavenly Winged White Tiger—none.”
Heavenly Winged White Tiger?
A tiger… with wings?
Spiritual beasts could evolve unpredictably, but that stretched imagination to its limit.
The absurd image of a flying white tiger roaring in the sky flashed into my mind. I shook my head to clear it and continued.
“After the Flowering Stage, humans and beasts simply cannot share the sa path. Humans have a human path; beasts have a beast path.”
“Didn’t you just say humans are intelligent beasts?”
“Yes—different beasts require different paths.”
As I rephrased, the Beast Palace Lord sank into thought.
I spoke as carefully as possible; phrased poorly, it might sound like an insult.
“I’m not saying the Beast Palace’s martial arts are flawed. But consider this: if two martial artists reach the Flowering Stage with the sa techniques, are they truly the sa martial artist?”
“Oh…”
His eyes widened as understanding dawned.
The Flowering Stage was where mind, qi, and body unified—upper, middle, and lower dantian harmonized—revealing one’s purest self.
Naturally, everyone would differ, even if raised identically from birth.
Then how much more so between a human and a beast?
The Beast Palace’s martial arts were exceptional—they could elevate beasts to spiritual beasts and even push them to Sub-Perfection. But…
By sharing each other’s qi and will, they limited the growth of sothing unique within themselves.
“So you’re saying the Beast Palace’s martial arts beco a shackle?”
“Rather than shackle, I’d say it becos a wall to break.”
Until you reach it, it guides.
Once reached, it becos a limit.
“The flow I saw told this: the Beast Palace’s martial arts lean too much toward the human side of the bond. And that becos a thick shell that prevents the spiritual beast from rebirthing into a divine beast.”
“I see… true. Humans have two arms and two legs and stand upright—but beasts vary infinitely.”
Frogs, dogs, cats, monkeys, tigers, birds, fish—everything was lumped under “beast.”
There naturally had to be trade-offs.
“Finding martial arts that suit Black Claw—that must be the first step.”
“Exactly.”
“Thank you. I’ll look into the specifics later, but the fact remains that you’ve given trendous help. I will repay it soday.”
“Then perhaps you could sell goods cheaper when trading with the Tang Clan—”
“Others need to make a living too, do they not?”
“If you can’t make them cheaper, perhaps you could at least serve as a guide?”
“I can promise that no matter how dense the jungles of Yunnan, you won’t lose your way while there.”
Considering Yunnan Province was so harsh even the imperial court avoided interfering, that was quite a good offer.
I nodded in satisfaction, then suddenly rembered sothing.
“Ah, there’s one more thing I should tell you.”
“What is it?”
“Since I can see the flow of energy now, I think I can control so of the risks accompanying your detoxification.”
We hadn’t been able to directly cure the Beast Palace Lord’s poison because three different poisons were tangled together in a delicate equilibrium.
Heal one, and the remaining two rampaged through his body—sothing his weakened state couldn’t withstand.
So the plan had been to split the burden between him and Black Claw, his partner, and research a thod accordingly—which took ti.
But poison qi was still qi.
And now, I could influence it.
I could delay the rampage, prevent clashes between poisons, or even absorb part of the poison qi with my Poison Immune Body.
aning, even if Tang Sowol’s research wasn’t fully complete, I could still treat him.
After listening to my explanation, Tang Sowol shouted in an aggrieved voice:
“Th-this… this isn’t poison arts at all…!”
A hollow cry.
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