Chapter 80: Peak
“Master, so what’s the thod?”
The training ground under the starlit moon.
I asked the old man, who was swaying here and there, reeking of alcohol.
Then Hwang Geolgae tapped my calf and told to sit cross-legged.
“Whether you realize it or not, you already possess the muscles, bones, internal energy, and qualities befitting the Peak, gained through great and small enlightennts.”
He pointed toward the vast internal energy gathered near my dantian as he spoke.
It was true—I had experienced several monts of enlightennt during the turbulent Dragon-Phoenix Tournant.
On top of that, I even committed acts of virtue I normally would never have done, like “Love your enemy.”
Thanks to that, an imasurable amount of virtuous energy was now surging within .
“So now, only one thing remains. To grasp the thod of freely controlling that imnse qi. Once you resolve this, you will ascend as a Peak master.”
What blocked my path now wasn’t internal energy or physical foundation, but enlightennt in qi manipulation—in other words, I lacked the fundantals of handling qi.
Hwang Geolgae believed this was a side effect of my unorthodox, shortcut-driven training thods rather than orthodox ones.
“See? This is what happens when you called ‘training’ nothing but beating up every day.”
“Don’t interrupt. Do you want another beating?”
“…No, sir.”
When he raised his fist, I imdiately tucked my head in like a turtle.
Despite my skull hardening from countless beatings, that flick of his always rattled my brain unbearably.
“Then what do I need to do to grasp qi manipulation?”
I had witnessed others scatter qi along with killing intent many tis. I had even imitated similar martial arts after seeing them once.
But that was only thanks to the Heaven-Slaying Star’s talent, copying them without knowing the reasons or principles behind it.
Even the martial arts I currently practiced only told to circulate qi through this or that acupoint—I rely followed the instructions.
“I shall show you the flow of qi myself.”
“How?”
Qi was sothing you could neither see, nor touch, nor hear.
“I will use True Qi Guidance to directly guide your energy.”
“…!”
He sat heavily behind as I sat cross-legged, then placed his hand firmly on my back.
“You always refused before, saying you feared coming face to face with ‘that thing’ inside .”
“Yes, and I still do, you brat.”
Hwang Geolgae shuddered as he said it.
Damn it. If he put it that way, how much more frightening was it for —the one who actually harbored ‘that thing’ inside my body?
“Then why now? Last ti you said it wasn’t possible.”
I turned my head slightly to ask.
“You’ve accumulated an amount of virtuous energy in this Dragon-Phoenix Tournant unlike anything before. That makes it worth attempting at least once, hehe.”
He stroked his beard and looked at with an expression of genuine approval.
It seed he had secretly been worried I’d just cause trouble, but was pleased with the results of my performance.
“Heaven may have decreed you punish the world, but I hope you rise above that fate and bring benefit to it instead.”
An indescribable aura of virtue flowed from the old man’s gaze and voice.
Though he usually acted like a useless drunkard, at tis like this, Hwang Geolgae radiated the air of a true Daoist.
“Can you do it? If so, I too will take the risk.”
The fate of the Evil Star, trying to devour my mind?
Of course I had to rise above that.
“To hell with it—let’s do it.”
I t his eyes and nodded confidently.
Then he grinned and pressed a finger into the Divine Pivot Acupoint on my back.
Qi that was foreign yet all the clearer because of it began seeping into through my ridians.
Soon, with the sa nature of cultivation thod, Hwang Geolgae’s qi slowly began to guide the energy pooled in my dantian.
Like a tranquil stream flowing along the riverbank, it began circulating through the Great Heavenly Cycle.
But then, as soon as the foreign qi invaded, the Heaven-Slaying Star sensed it and began to rampage.
A mass of blood-red murderous will surged throughout my body.
Chzzzt—!
「Raise the virtuous energy…!」
A transmission directly into my inner ear, as if my eardrums were being struck.
I began reciting the incantations of the Starfall Heart Cultivation thod with all my strength. At once, energy swirled wildly through my ridians.
‘Seongnyeong Hoilche, Sujeon Gipase… Suchojeokjugaejin…!’
Embrace the stars of the heavens and illuminate the world.
Then the realm will be stabilized, and you will be freed.
Swaaah—!
The virtuous energy surged forward like a tidal wave against the Evil Star.
Boom—!
Imdiately, pure-white qi and blood-red qi clashed violently within my body.
Jolt!
Shock and pain clouded my mind.
My body jerked upward as if it would fly away, but fortunately Hwang Geolgae pressed down on my shoulders.
Yet the hamring inside my body was far from over.
Boom—!
A second collision of opposing energies. White and crimson qi fought to devour each other within .
“Ghhhk.”
Blood trickled from my tightly clenched lips, the price of the shock.
「Focus your mind!」
Though no lips moved, I heard Hwang Geolgae’s voice in my ears.
As I faltered, the old man urged to gather my energy and strike again.
But easier said than done. My thoughts blurred under the overwhelming impact, consciousness teetering.
「When this old man beat you up, you spat curses and fought back!」
Damn, he was right.
Even when I was on the verge of collapsing, my body shattered and battered, my defiance had boiled up—I’d rolled on the ground, bitten, clawed, and struck back no matter what.
‘Daaamn it!’
I mustered my energy and hurled it once more into the battlefield within.
The white qi slamd fiercely against the crimson mass.
Boom—!
Again, my body tried to spring upward, only to be pinned down by Hwang Geolgae.
My consciousness nearly slipped away, but I bit my lip until blood flowed to hold on.
「Once more!」
Pain that could not kill would only make stronger.
I clenched my fist so tightly that blood seeped out and once more hurled my energy upward.
Boom—!
“Khk!”
Blood burst through the gap of my lips. My whole body felt as if it were boiling over.
But it bore fruit. That strike, which wielded imnse virtuous energy like a hamr, shattered the crimson mass of the Heaven-Slaying Star’s energy.
Then, as though a blocked ridian had burst open, the virtuous energy surged toward my upper dantian with unstoppable force.
I pushed the Starfall Heart Cultivation thod to its limits, extinguishing demonic energy while nourishing the stars’ qi.
The fierce white energy struck the star embedded in my head—the Heaven-Slaying Star—like a battering ram.
Bang!
It was as if a thunderous roar exploded inside my head.
The malignant star, once burning scarlet like the sun, rapidly dimd as though struck by ice.
Crack—
With the sound of rupture, the fissures deepened, longer and thicker.
Fragnts of starlight-like energy trickled away from the Evil Star.
The Starfall Heart Cultivation thod, a supre cultivation that refined such incomprehensible fragnts into understandable internal energy.
I felt vast internal energy surging within , as though I had ingested a spiritual elixir.
“Hhhhp!”
Energy flooded my body like a mighty river stream.
And Hwang Geolgae began clearly guiding that wild stallion-like energy.
Following his lead, torrents of qi dug into ridians throughout my body.
Chzzzt—!
The white energy enveloped my whole body, rising like steam into the air.
After completing a full cycle of the Great Heavenly Circulation, an understanding of qi welled up in my mind.
‘Qi is the breath of heaven and earth, the primal force that perates life itself.’
I had thought only what resided inside was qi, but now I realized the entire world was made of qi.
At the sa ti, my eyes glead with radiant light. My fists instinctively lashed out, driven by the storming energy.
“Uaaah!”
Like a dormant fist stretching awake, my fist’s qi fiercely struck the very air of the world.
Boom—!
Breath cultivation continued for a long ti.
After calming the turbulent insides and collecting the rampaging qi, dawn had already arrived with the sun rising round above the horizon.
“Phew.”
A deep exhale. I could still feel the lingering echo of the Peak trembling at my fingertips.
Perhaps because of the Starfall Heart Cultivation thod, a vivid white fist qi was condensed before . This was the very force said to crush iron and shatter stone.
When I raised the Dog-Beating Staff, white staff qi flared to life.
The energy condensed so powerfully that the rising white qi unfurled upward like silken threads.
This was the next realm beyond Sword Qi—Sword Threads.
Since I wielded a staff, strictly speaking, it was Staff Threads.
“Staff Qi, Staff Threads. Why do they all sound so la?”
I had always felt it. Unlike swords or blades, this Dog-Beating Staff lacked grandeur.
What kind of weapon na was “dog-beating staff,” anyway? Other martial artists all gave their beloved weapons stylish titles.
“You’re brooding over pointless thoughts again, aren’t you?”
Hwang Geolgae, shaking his head, spoke as he saw glaring at the staff with dissatisfaction.
Sotis he seed like he could read minds. Was this what being a Daoist sage did—reading people’s hearts?
“So, you’ve beco a Peak master. What do you plan to do with that power?”
He asked again of my goal and resolve.
“Sa as always. Do my troubleshooter work, pile up virtuous energy, and make money.”
Escaping the world’s chains binding as the Heaven-Slaying Star still lay far ahead.
And I had another reason to reach the Fla Realm.
“Heheh, from the look on your face, your hands are itching after looking at .”
Indeed, the thing I most wanted was to beat this old man down—to repay every blow he had dealt .
“Ahem, I don’t know what you an.”
“You brat, you think I don’t notice those eyes you sotis throw at ?”
Always drinking, yet sohow sharp-eyed.
“I only feel gratitude for the boundless grace of my Master.”
“Heh, such words don’t suit you at all.”
Hwang Geolgae snorted at my reply.
Then he broke off a nearby branch, fashioning it into a crude club.
“You must be itching to release what you’ve just obtained. If you wish, I could humor you.”
He too seed eager to witness firsthand the result he had helped achieve.
With him laying the mat out this far, I couldn’t back out.
I stabbed the Dog-Beating Staff, radiating destructive energy, into the air and boldly declared:
“Then let’s have a match, old man.”
“Heh… Now that’s more like it.”
His lips curled into a mischievous grin at my provocation.
Now that I was a Peak master, even if I took a beating, I had to at least land one strike on that face of his.
I surged with internal energy, enough to shatter the training ground, and charged my master.
“It’s staff ti—!”
“Boss, boss.”
Soone poked at , sprawled like a beggar across the training ground.
Slender fingers jabbed my shoulder.
“Wow, boss. You look terrible.”
Seeing my face covered in bruises, she let out a short gasp.
“Who did this to you?”
“Who else could beat up a Peak master…?”
That wicked old man. Just because I bared a little of my teeth, he really had to beat senseless.
I’d heard that once you reached the Peak and shed a layer of human limits, such wounds and pain healed quickly.
But after how viciously we’d fought, even an hour later my whole body still throbbed.
“…Wow, congratulations, boss. Looked like you were stuck, but you finally broke through?”
She had seen struggle during late-night training, unable to draw out staff qi, so she imdiately congratulated .
Then she grabbed my sluggish arm and helped to my feet.
“Ugh… So why did you co here?”
“On the way back, we took an extra escort request for Lord Jo of the Manor, rember? I went to the Wanderers’ Guild to settle it. Here.”
She pressed two silver coins into my hand. We had been promised silver as paynt when we departed.
But it seed Lord Jo wanted to maintain ties with , now that I had entered the Peak, and had increased the paynt.
“It was originally three, but one was taken as brokerage fee.”
Since I hadn’t yet renewed my rank, I was still a standard wanderer, so they skimd off thirty percent.
Damn parasites—just like delivery apps that take fees for doing nothing.
“But you know, it’s really strange.”
“What is?”
“Back when we were beggars, scraping together even copper coins was tough, but these days, money just piles up.”
Ilhong giggled, rolling the silver between her fingers.
“That’s exactly when you need to be most careful. When fortune flows in.”
People always overestimated themselves and squandered everything, only to lose it all.
I had lost great sums that way in my childhood.
“So boss, you must have a good amount saved by now. What are you going to do with it?”
Bounties from felling bigshots, rewards from the Murim Alliance Leader, and paynt from countless requests.
Ilhong, seeing amass wealth, was curious about my plans.
“Ti to do what I do best.”
When money piles up, it must be turned into business.
I had reached the Peak, gained fa under the alias Dog-Beating Dragon, and gathered vast funds—why should I still waste them on brokerage fees?
“I’m going to open a Troubleshooter Office right here in Beijing.”
The long-cherished dream of having my own office. A place for requests solely mine to handle.
At last, the ti had co for to paint my own colors across the vast Central Plains.
User Comments
0 comments from readers