The Youngest Member of the Martial Alliance Chapter 162

The survival instinct of all living things on earth is truly a frightening thing.

Even an insect without reason will flee with incomprehensible power when it senses danger, and a human whose life and family are threatened can beco a completely different person from usual.

Moreover, the survival instinct of an imugi that had lived for a thousand years was needless to say.

Cheon Woojin raised his dark ki even more.

In order to remove the poison ki located in the imugi's inner core, he had to completely take control of that inner core.

The imugi's resistance was very fierce. It felt as if it could not die here, having endured for a thousand years to beco a dragon.

"I can feel your heart, but if you leave it like this, you will die without being able to properly use the spiritual power you have gathered for your entire life."

Cheon Woojin said in a soothing tone.

Of course, the imugi's resistance did not stop. Cheon Woojin had not said it with that intention either.

It was just a kind of apology. From now on, the imugi might be engulfed in a pain that was difficult to endure.

Cheon Woojin, who had uttered his own apology, raised his dark ki to the extre. He disobeyed his two masters' words and released all his power. Just as he had done when he had killed the Beast Palace Lord, in order to hear the cry of the Crescent Moon Staff.

Soon, the collision of the two huge energies tore through the inside of the imugi's stomach. Nevertheless, the fact that it endured without a hole being made showed that a spiritual beast was a spiritual beast.

Cheon Woojin was inwardly surprised. As the control of the inner core was slowly being transferred to him, he could feel how dense and huge the energy contained in that inner core was.

Even when compared to all the dark ki flowing through Cheon Woojin's entire body, its quantity and quality were by no ans inferior.

It was then.

In an instant, Cheon Woojin's vision beca dizzily distant.

He had felt it when he had killed the Beast Palace Lord, but this phenonon occurred when he released all his dark ki and operated it with all his strength.

It felt as if he were not controlling the energy, but the energy was constantly trying to control Cheon Woojin.

All the emotions that a human should originally have were sinking endlessly into the deep well of his inner self.

If all of that were to sink, what would be left in Cheon Woojin's body would be only power, destruction, and impulse.

'Can that really be called a human?'

Was the Dark Heavenly Son, the source of this power, really not a god?

Cheon Woojin kept having such doubts.

If he did not resist the dark ki and fully accepted its will... he felt instinctively that he would enter a new realm.

It would be sothing on the sa line as what was called nirvana in Buddhism and ascension in Taoism.

Since it was a realm reached through the energy of the Dark Heavenly Son, it was fitting to call it not nirvana or ascension, but the realm of an evil god.

Cheon Woojin felt instinctively. That he should never reach that realm.

"Hmm."

He let out a deep breath and closed his eyes.

He concentrated his mind even more and began to pull up the emotions that were sinking endlessly into the deep place.

Sadness, anger, joy, regret, pleasure, happiness, surprise, fear...

He slowly pulled out the bucket filled with all those emotions from a very deep well. The well was too deep, and the rope that held the bucket was as thin as a thread, so it was precarious.

If he made even a small mistake, that thread would break, and all his emotions would sink into a deep place from which they could never be retrieved.

Now, it was not a confrontation with the imugi's inner core, but a confrontation with himself.

He was so focused that the sweat that flowed down his cheek fell to the ground. His martial arts uniform was soaked, and a nervous wrinkle ford on his brow.

And so, how much ti had passed?

Cheon Woojin let out a long breath.

His whole body, which had beco so light as if it had escaped the limits of the human body, regained its weight, and the emotions he had almost lost were contained in his heart.

Cheon Woojin's emotions were duller than others. Nevertheless, although the total amount of his emotions was very small, there was a world of difference between having a little and having it completely disappear.

When he had suppressed the dark ki that was trying to dominate him, the control of the imugi's inner core had also already been transferred to Cheon Woojin.

Cheon Woojin gathered all the poison ki in the inner core and discharged it. Although that enormous poison ki could have been burned or scattered, since it could beco a disaster if it leaked outside, he shaped it into a small bead.

"It would be fitting to call it the poison of the flood dragon."

Of course, Cheon Woojin had no hobby in poison arts.

He planned to give it to the Poisonous Hand of the Sichuan Tang family, the Poison King, or Tang Soyeon. The poison of the flood dragon, which had been more precisely crafted from the poison ki of the valley lord in the imugi's inner core, would not be sothing that an ordinary person could handle.

Since the first valley lord had tried to beco the number one poison person in the world with this poison, it was actually doubtful if even the Poisonous Hand and the Poison King could handle it.

Soon, Cheon Woojin, who had put the poison of the flood dragon in his bosom, looked at the imugi's inner core. The inner core, from which all the poison ki had been removed, was blue, as if it contained the sky.

There was a mystery that made one feel the passage of a thousand years, and even Cheon Woojin was influenced by that atmosphere and felt his mind beco clear.

"Is this a wish-granting jewel?"

It was then.

The stomach acid and vibrations that had been rushing towards Cheon Woojin had long since stopped. A light shone from a distance. The imugi had opened its mouth to let him out.

Cheon Woojin, who had his eyes on the wish-granting jewel, walked slowly towards the outside. Since it was not a common thing to see the inside of an imugi's body, he walked slowly, taking it all in with his eyes.

Suddenly, Cheon Woojin stopped walking. He felt so kind of energy from behind. When he turned his head, the blue wish-granting jewel was flying gently and stopped in front of Cheon Woojin.

As Cheon Woojin spread his palm, the wish-granting jewel landed on it. Even though all the poison ki had been removed, it contained an energy that was equal to or even greater than Cheon Woojin's dark ki.

"Are you giving this to ?"

Was it okay?

It must be a precious energy that it had gathered for a thousand years.

But the wish-granting jewel seed to have no intention of leaving Cheon Woojin's palm. The thing that had been the size of a human head had now turned into a small bead of the sa size as the poison of the flood dragon.

Cheon Woojin, who had been contemplating for a mont, put the wish-granting jewel in his bosom and went out.

.

.

.

Cheon Woojin ca out and made eye contact with the imugi.

A deep gratitude was contained in the imugi's eyes.

Cheon Woojin was puzzled. It must be a wish-granting jewel that it had gathered for a thousand years, so what was it so grateful for, even after giving it away?

He soon found out the reason.

In an instant, the imugi's whole body emitted light.

The thick and hard scales that even the Crane Wind Flash could not scratch began to fall to the ground.

From the peeled inner flesh, new scales of a mix of gold and green were sprouting.

Soon, the whole body of the imugi, which had completely finished its molting, was engulfed in light. It was so bright and splendid that even Cheon Woojin had to narrow his eyes.

The imugi made a pleasant snorting sound, as if it were happy. Due to that wind, the surrounding ground was all broken and flew away.

In an instant, the sky beca bright.

A brilliant golden light that had started from the sky gathered in the imugi's open mouth. All of a sudden, that light created a single golden bead.

Cheon Woojin, seeing this, naturally realized.

"So that was the real wish-granting jewel."

The wish-granting jewel was not the inner core that the imugi had gathered for its entire life. It was a gift from the heavens when it had emptied its mind and had completely let go of it.

The imugi, no, the heavenly dragon, holding the wish-granting jewel, gradually rose into the sky and circled the surroundings once.

It was so huge that it was on the verge of covering the entire sky.

The heavenly dragon, which was looking at the marvelous scene, grazed past the heads of Cheon Woojin and the Intelligence Unit Commander at a trendous speed.

The place where the heavenly dragon was heading was the first valley lord, who was also looking at it with a dazed expression.

The heavenly dragon swallowed the first valley lord without any problem and then ascended to the sky as it was. As if the sky were welcoming it, the clouds opened, and soon the heavenly dragon disappeared into that place.

* * *

After the heavenly dragon disappeared, the sky regained its original color.

What was left in the place were only Cheon Woojin and the Intelligence Unit Commander.

The Poison Valley and the Poison Demon Unit were annihilated. The huge canyon that the Poison Valley had used entirely and where the imugi had lived was now empty.

In the future, a na would be attached to the canyon.

The Valley of the Ascending Dragon.

Since the imugi that had stayed here had beco a heavenly dragon and had ascended from this place, all sorts of Taoist priests from all over the world would flock here.

Perhaps, a new Taoist sect might be established here.

No matter how great the spiritual energy of Mount Wudang and Mount Kunlun was, it would not be comparable to the place where a dragon had ascended.

"..."

The Intelligence Unit Commander still seed to be dazed. He just looked at the canyon and the sky alternately with a blank expression.

Cheon Woojin nodded and said.

"Well, I was a little surprised too. To think that there really are imugis and dragons in the world."

"...?"

The Intelligence Unit Commander looked at Cheon Woojin with a bewildered face. What he was really surprised about right now was not because of the imugi and the dragon.

"What on earth are you, who beat that imugi and dragon?"

"I wonder."

"Are you even human?"

It was a reasonable question.

Cheon Woojin had often heard such a question before.

At that ti, he was just displeased. Because people kept telling him that he was not a human and so even called him a monster.

But the phenonon he had felt when he had raised his dark ki to its full strength. The feeling that he would imdiately rise to the realm of an evil god and beco a being beyond human.

Did his masters know such a thing in advance and had told him to use only half of his full strength?

"I don't know either."

"Huh?"

"Whether I'm really human or not. In fact, I knew that I was fundantally a little different from others. For example, even if my internal energy is sealed, I can kill a transcendent master with my bare hands, or I have achieved the realm of being immune to all poisons. I am originally duller in emotions than others, and it is difficult for to deal with people. Even now, when I go to a crowded place, my heart sotis trembles... I don't know anymore."

Perhaps I'm not human.

He managed to swallow such words.

The people who were precious to Cheon Woojin, for example, the Black and White Masters, Song Yiyeon and Jinun, Namgung Jin, or Cheol Jiak and Zhuge Lin...

The thought that he might be a fundantally different being from them made him feel very strange.

In the suddenly awkward atmosphere, Cheon Woojin, who had let out a deep sigh, was about to move his steps, saying let's slowly return to the Alliance.

"Wait!"

The Intelligence Unit Commander hurriedly stopped Cheon Woojin.

Cheon Woojin looked at him with his usual dry face.

"It's just that you're great and strong, not that you're not human. If I offended you, I apologize. I didn't an it in that sense."

"...Yes."

"Above all, you are a very human person. To be honest, you and I are strangers, aren't we? It wouldn't have mattered to you if I had died when the cave collapsed, right? Nevertheless, you tried to take care of while facing the imugi. Moreover, wasn't the reason you annihilated the Poison Demon Unit and the Poison Valley because you didn't want the common people to be caught up in the poison and die when a war broke out?"

"..."

Cheon Woojin had a slightly surprised expression, as if he had not expected the Intelligence Unit Commander to say such a thing.

The words he had said made Cheon Woojin think a lot.

How much ti had passed?

"Thank you."

Cheon Woojin nodded slightly. He felt that his complicated heart had been sowhat sorted out. Soon, as he was about to move his steps again, the Intelligence Unit Commander's words continued.

"First of all, the Martial Alliance is not in that direction. It's the opposite."

"..."

Cheon Woojin naturally changed his direction and walked, as if he had originally intended to go that way. At that sight, the Intelligence Unit Commander let out a hearty laugh.

"Hoho, what else is that but human charm?"

(End of Chapter)