It seed that six shichen (twelve hours) had already passed since he took the Small Rejuvenation Pill.
Originally, he had planned to finish circulating his energy in one night, but the power contained within the Small Rejuvenation Pill far exceeded Namgung Il's expectations.
“……”
Due to the nature of the elixir, he was able to minimize the waste of energy even without doing anything special.
That was the reason Namgung Il's energy circulation had been prolonged until now.
Even when he tried to stop, the Small Rejuvenation Pill was forcibly pulling Namgung Il to a higher realm.
‘…I can’t stop.’
Namgung Il had taken quite a few elixirs in his ti, but this was the first ti he had experienced such pure energy.
Normally, just calming the rampaging energy in his dantian would be exhausting, but the Small Rejuvenation Pill had none of that.
It simply followed his lead, and there was no resistance whatsoever.
‘As expected of one of Shaolin’s two great holy dicines… It’s on a different level from other elixirs.’
Having taken it himself, he could now understand why Jinheo had not given him the Small Rejuvenation Pill.
The Small Rejuvenation Pill could be described as the very embodint of a martial artist's desires, containing all the elents they wished for.
Rather, the elixir leads the martial artist… this feeling could only be known by those who had taken it themselves.
“……”
At this point, Namgung Il beca curious about what the Great Rejuvenation Pill would feel like.
Between small and great, wouldn't the larger one naturally be better?
This was already astonishing enough, but he even thought that if he took the Great Rejuvenation Pill, his soul might just ascend to the heavens.
Woong—.
Just then, Namgung Il's legs lifted off the floor.
It was a very slight height, not easily noticeable, but he was clearly floating in the air.
“……”
Namgung Il was unaware that he was currently experiencing the phenonon of Bugong Sammae, or Floating Samadhi.
It was a phenonon that appeared in a martial artist when they achieved enlightennt and their realm advanced.
As his internal energy rapidly increased in an instant, his body was floating regardless of his own will.
In that state, Namgung Il floated in the air for so ti, then slowly descended back to the floor.
Woong—.
At that mont, the rings that had been circulating above Namgung Il's head also faded.
The rings disappeared as if being sucked into Namgung Il's head.
As if signaling the end of the energy circulation, Namgung Il slowly opened his closed eyes.
“……”
The afterglow of the ecstasy he had tasted earlier still lingered in Namgung Il's eyes.
An ecstasy that could not be well described in words, one that only those who had experienced it could feel.
It was a sweet dream that any martial artist would never want to wake from, but unfortunately, it was now ti to return to reality.
Woooong—.
Namgung Il could tell that his internal energy had beco a level deeper than before.
In the past, he could only have this depth of internal energy after reaching about twice his current age.
To think he had already almost caught up to the Do Yeok-san of that era at this age… Of course, that was only in terms of internal energy, but Namgung Il was so dumbfounded he couldn't even laugh.
‘Elixirs really are good.’
He had achieved such an accomplishnt because he had taken a high-grade elixir among them.
Shaolin's Small Rejuvenation Pill… it was an elixir he wanted to taste again if he had the chance.
Of course, it was highly likely that he would not achieve such a dramatic accomplishnt as he did this ti.
The higher the realm, the more difficult the process of moving to the next stage becos in proportion.
Perhaps what he had just felt was the last ecstasy he would ever be able to feel.
‘Still, there might be a possibility.’
Just because one has walked a path once, there is no guarantee anywhere that one can walk that path again.
However, Namgung Il held the expectation that he might encounter such fortuitous encounters a few more tis in the future.
Because, unintentionally, he had ford a connection with a stork that brought fortuitous encounters.
He didn't know exactly what else was in Old Man Heo's treasure vault, but Namgung Il thought it would be good to look forward to it a little more in the future.
‘Hoo… by the way, what ti is it now?’
Namgung Il was not even aware of how much ti had passed.
Seeing the light coming into the room, it seed the day had broken… Just then, Namgung Il belatedly discovered another person in the room.
“……?”
Ak Simin was standing by the door, quietly looking this way.
Could it be that he had been standing there the whole ti he was circulating his energy?
Their eyes t, but Ak Simin seed to have no intention of speaking first.
“Uh… when did you get here?”
“……Is it all over now?”
“What?”
“No, I guess you’re talking because it’s over.”
Ak Simin said and walked closer to Namgung Il.
It seed he had been silent until now so as not to disturb the energy circulation.
Ak Simin ca close, stuck his face out abruptly, and stared intently at Namgung Il from a distance where their lips would touch if he moved just a little.
“……?”
What on earth is this unseemly behavior?
Namgung Il stayed still for a mont, then imdiately averted his face as if burdened.
“……I was wondering why you didn’t co to class.”
“……”
“Congratulations. It seems you’ve obtained a truly great fortuitous encounter.”
Ak Simin said and returned to his usual face.
Judging by his tone, it seed he had indeed been standing there for quite a long ti.
Namgung Il got up from his seat and said in a slightly blunt tone.
“Isn’t it polite to quietly leave the room when soone else is having a fortuitous encounter?”
“So I was quiet.”
“……”
“I wanted to see. You can’t easily see such a rare sight.”
Namgung Il was about to argue a little more at those words, but he eventually gave up.
It wasn't as if he had been disturbed by Ak Simin standing there.
If he had been disturbed and woken up in the middle, he would have been furious, but since he hadn't even noticed Ak Simin's presence right away when he opened his eyes, he couldn't say he had been disturbed.
“So why did you co here?”
“I ca to your room because you didn’t co to class.”
“……What ti is it now?”
“It’s been about two gak (30 minutes) since I got here, so it must have just passed noon.”
So… what was the first class today?
Namgung Il was relieved that the first class was not Cha Yul-ryeong's.
“You must have a lot of free ti. To co and pick up in person just because I didn’t co to class.”
“Whose fault do you think this is?”
“……?”
“You, at the get-together… no, never mind.”
Until he ca here, Ak Simin had been planning to confront Namgung Il about that matter.
However, after seeing such a sight, it felt like it didn't matter anymore, so Ak Simin swallowed his words.
“Go to the Headmaster right now.”
“Why there?”
“I don’t know the reason either.”
“……I understand.”
The classes wouldn't have all ended yet, but a summons from Seo Shin-won.
Namgung Il instinctively knew that sothing was up.
However.
Rumble—!
Suddenly, a sound like thunder echoed in the room.
Namgung Il caressed his stomach with his hand and said to Ak Simin.
“Can I get sothing to eat before I go?”
“……Do you think you can?”
“Then this sound will keep coming from my stomach.”
“……”
Was it true that there was a thin line between a genius and a fool?
Ak Simin sighed inwardly, wondering why such a fortuitous encounter had appeared for a guy like this.
***
In the end, Namgung Il was heading to Seo Shin-won's office on an empty stomach.
Rumble—!
His stomach was still throwing a tantrum, demanding to be fed right now.
His last al was dinner last night, so in a little while, would it be almost a full day of starving?
Perhaps because he had stayed up all night circulating his energy, he felt even hungrier.
‘What is he calling for this ti?’
There would be no student among the first-years who had such frequent etings with Seo Shin-won.
No, wouldn't he be unparalleled even among all the years?
He didn't think he had caused any particular problems recently… Namgung Il had no idea what he was being called for this ti.
“……”
In the end, Namgung Il arrived near the office without knowing anything.
At that mont, as if he had noticed sothing, his steps paused for a mont.
Namgung Il could sense that there was another person besides Seo Shin-won beyond that door.
‘Who is it? It’s an energy I’ve never felt before.’
Just as each person has their own characteristics, the energy emitted by a martial artist also has a certain characteristic.
Of course, this was a subtle difference that could only be distinguished if one's energy sense was very sharp.
Perhaps because he had obtained a fortuitous encounter with the Small Rejuvenation Pill, Namgung Il's energy sense, as well as his internal energy, had developed considerably compared to before.
“……”
What was certain was that the person in that room was not a person from the Flying Dragon Academy.
Moreover, this energy… it was a powerful feeling that was by no ans inferior even when compared to Seo Shin-won who was with him.
Thud— Thud—.
Namgung Il approached the door with a slight sense of tension.
At that mont, a voice was heard from inside.
Just as Namgung Il had sensed the energy inside from the outside, the person inside had also noticed Namgung Il's presence.
“Co in.”
“……”
The owner of the voice was Seo Shin-won.
Namgung Il imdiately opened the door carefully and moved his head towards the source of the mysterious energy he had felt from outside.
‘That person is…’
As Namgung Il had expected, there was one more person inside besides Seo Shin-won.
His age was about the sa as Seo Shin-won's, his build was quite sturdy, and his impression felt slightly sharp.
It was definitely a person he was seeing for the first ti here, but for so reason, Namgung Il felt that that old man was familiar.
‘Is it my illusion? It feels like I’ve seen him sowhere…’
At that mont, as if he had realized sothing, Namgung Il's eyes flashed open.
The reason Namgung Il felt that old man was familiar was by no ans an illusion.
In the past, Namgung Il and the old man had t several tis, and they had even run into each other during the Righteous-Demonic War.
‘Paeng Jeong-nam!’
Namgung Il finally rembered the old man's na.
A fellow alumnus who had attended the Flying Dragon Academy with him in the past, and now one of the figures called the Ten Stars of Great Light.
His face had changed a little due to the passage of ti, but looking closely, only the wrinkles had increased a bit; his old face remained the sa.
“……”
As soon as he realized that, Namgung Il's gaze cald down again.
The face of a fellow alumnus he was seeing after a truly long ti.
Moreover, it was normal to feel happy to see the face of a comrade he had fought with on the battlefield, but for so reason, Namgung Il's gaze was only cold.
‘I heard he was alive.’
Among the Ten Stars of Great Light, there were two who were still alive.
One of them was Paeng Jeong-nam, who was right there.
In the world, Namgung Il and Paeng Jeong-nam were called the Ten Stars of Great Light together, but in fact, Namgung Il did not have good feelings for Paeng Jeong-nam.
“……”
He had had a bad relationship with Paeng Jeong-nam since his academy days.
A typically selfish personality who only knew himself. On top of that, he also had the cunning to look down on others.
Even at that ti, Paeng Jeong-nam had used his position as the young master of the Paeng family to bully a considerable number of kids weaker than him.
At first, he himself had been among those targets, but after giving him a good beating in a duel, he had only made verbal jabs and had not done anything more.
‘It was similar back then, I think.’
Even with age, Paeng Jeong-nam was the sa.
He had shown many selfish aspects even in the war to protect the Central Plains.
Still, at that ti, since they were fighting on the battlefield together, he hadn't complained much… but to be honest, Namgung Il did not think of Paeng Jeong-nam as the sa kind of comrade as the other Ten Stars of Great Light.
“……”
To think he would see such a guy in a place like this.
As Namgung Il continued to stare at Paeng Jeong-nam without even closing the door, Seo Shin-won cleared his throat slightly and opened his mouth.
“Namgung Il, greet him.”
“……”
“This is Paeng Jeong-nam. The Alliance Leader of the Martial Alliance.”
…What?
At the introduction that followed Paeng Jeong-nam's na, Namgung Il was dumbfounded.
(End of Chapter)
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