[Author Note: Some of the content of chapter 200 has been modified, the training part of Seol-Hwi has been changed and corrected.]
Seol-Hwi decided to build a training center around the store of Songhwa. At first, he tried to set up a tent in the backyard, but then he decided to dig a tunnel underground since he was worried about people walking in on him.
The process of removing the soil was not very difficult.
After using the technique Martial Supreme Peak Wind God a couple times, there was space that he could fit in. And then, he did it a couple more times, which then made the space become even more spacious.
After that, he began to train and had enough supplies to last him a month.
“Phew.”
Around that time, Seol-Hwi no longer practiced wielding the sword. He thought simply swinging was pointless.
The softness of it was with the related technique and form of movement, but it was the heart which did it.
Then, was there any reason to move the body according to the technique anymore?
Seol-Hwi spent the hours contemplating it.
The blood vessels and the meridians, if the internal energy inside the body was being cultivated, maybe that was the meaning of flawlessness.
With that thought in mind, he began to move into cultivation. The initial part of it was not so difficult, so he managed to find the movement of it.
How do you counterattack when you are feeling the flow of cultivation within?
“No matter what the action is, I have to react right away…”
That means one had to be ready at any time.
He came to the conclusion that not just the lower dantian, but the middle and upper should also be used to rotate the internal energy.
He tried it. He did the cultivation exercises multiple times every single day. Over 10 such days, he had hundreds of tries.
Then thousands and even tens of thousands. And then he lost count.
At some point, he fell into trance. He could feel the dantian and the body change.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
A sign.
There was an unknown change from before. As if it was the body killing itself, the unseen flow was creating an incredible amount of pain throughout his body.
And when he felt this intense pain of the bones being grinded, Seol-Hwi poured out all of his internal energy in one place.
Kukukung!
The entrance was sealed.
This was the reason for making the tunnel. Seol-Hwi had sealed it in case of the worst possible situation cropping up.
After that, he lost consciousness.
The pain he was feeling and the changes in the body, they were too much.
How long had it been before he woke up?
With his mind drifting away, it seemed like he saw something dazzling in front of his eyes.
“Euu….”
When he opened his eyes, he was in a dark cave without light. Thinking that something was going on in his body, he first checked the body.
Shh
The moment he touched the body with his hand, all the clothes on the body had disappeared, and the only thing left was the shoes and golden belt.
“…Body reformation? It cannot be.”
Somehow, he was able to feel the energy within.
Shhh
And he could see some form of natural green hue surrounding gus body.
“Uh? It doesn’t seem to be Super Master… I have reached Peak Demon.”
It felt strange to him.
Certainly, the demonic energy and his pure energy were mixed in for the sake of enlightenment, but the change in the body felt so extreme.
He still had a hard time figuring out why this happened. If he had to decide on a reason, it might be because he learned the demonic arts first of his martial arts…
There is no special change in skills?
New, fire, ice, and Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts techniques must be there. He could feel the changes.
“Shall I move?”
When Seol-Hwi slightly shot up to get up, it felt like the walls of the ceiling had moved.
It was not just that, but the energy of his began to move near the ceiling and began to take down everything which interfered.
“Huh.”
Fist energy—
As soon as he used the middle and upper dantian, the technique was unleashed with ease.
Seol-Hwi, who came out of the room he created with one punch, wore the clothes hanging to the side.
Since it was the middle of the night, no one was around.
Step
However, there was someone who made him stop.
“…”
Behind the tree, there was one who lowered the body and walked to him.
The guy holding his breath was at the outer wall.
There were four to five people around him approaching closer.
Uhh…
The faint howl in the ears of Seol-Hwi.
There was a voice which was definitely not from a human.
The cry seemed to be from someone who had lost their mind.
“Did my demonic energy call for them, or were they all just hanging around this place…”
But one thing was certain.
The fact that these things were moving in front of the shop of Songhwa meant that the Demonic Sect was throwing its men into Hangzhou.
And they were no longer in a normal state, but one where they had all lost their sanity.
“Come on.”
“Kwaaak!”
With a small gesture to the wind, the wild crazy demon jumped at him without another word. The force at which they attacked Seol-Hwi was frightening.
“Huh.”
Saaaa-
Seol-Hwi’s body just passed through it all like wind.
At the swift movement, the crazy demons continued to run to the previous place Seol-Hwi stood at.
Chiiing!
The heads were severed and fell down to the ground.
Seol-Hwi stood behind them, tilting his head.
“I didn’t know the extent of the skills. My skills too, and those of my enemies…”
Could this be seen as rising to Supreme Demon?
His own abilities seemed to have risen greatly, but the abilities of his opponent were not normal either. When a warrior turned insane like this, their skills heightened dramatically. And this was because they used an energy similar to innate energy to make them stronger.
Like, even those who were second rate or first rate warriors would be close to this strong after having turned.
Coming again.
Before he could finish the thought, he heard footsteps.
They were so silent that he had to wait for a while before he heard them. But—
“M-master!”
“You?”
It was not some stranger but Songhwa.
“Well.”
Seol-Hwi, who followed Songhwa, seemed to feel something off.
Songhwa guided him to a house he had never seen before, a place Seol-Hwi was not used to.
The space was small and it seemed like a private place in a far off land.
“What happened?”
Seol-Hwi asked after entering.
“Do you remember anything?”
Seol-Hwi was quite shocked by this.
‘Do you remember?’
After thinking so, Seol-Hwi asked,
“How much time passed since I went to train?”
“A little over a year.”
“What?!”
Seol-Hwi was genuinely shocked.
A year?
The supplies he had prepared there were only enough for a month, so he thought it would not be longer, but a month meant his sense of time was odd.
Well. A lot of time must have passed. To use the Millions of Possibilities and the Grounded attack.
He was not sure of how far along his skills were, but he was surely having energy circulate the body when he was awake, and then he dreamed of it even in his sleep.
He had made thousands of attempts, and in the end, it was repeated countless times to the point of not being able to count it.
How many times did he go through the process of establishing the numerous ways to channel the blood through the blood points, and then merge the lower, mid and upper dantian into one?
Then did I come to accept the energy of nature?
Even after accepting it, it was hard to believe.
The reason Seol-Hwi initially expected to train in seclusion for a month was because the food and water he had taken with him to the underground area was very limited.
He did not think too much about the food, but it would not be easy for humans to survive without water.
However, thinking about it, during the course of training, he did not remember having trouble with eating or using the bathroom.
And upon thinking about it further, when it seemed like he was reaching the end of the training, he did not eat or use the bathroom that much either.
“Wait. Then Imugi?”
Seol-Hwi hurriedly asked.
“Thankfully, Imugi-hyung is doing well. He is still pretending to be Kong Yong and staying at the Sleeping Dragon Forces. And hyung moved me to a safer area.”
“Thank god.”
Seol-Hwi touched his chest.
He was worried that he might have been swept away in the chaos, but thankfully he was alive.
“But, your face doesn’t seem that bright?”
At Seol-Hwi’s words, Songhwa lowered his head for a moment. Then he took out a thick wad of paper from his sleeve.
“This…”
Seol-Hwi recognized it at once.
They were letters sent by his subordinates, around 12 pages of them.
He read it slowly, despite it being repetitive.
[The other disciples are gathering together to get an opinion on the issue of the First Disciple colluding with the Forces of Justice. But it doesn’t seem to be easy for them to come to an agreement. Since each of them hold different positions, it seems like they are weighing the gains and losses of the one who has to take the lead and attack first.]
Shh
[The Second Disciple took the lead. He entered the grounds and declared that he would strike the central plains to the elders of the sect. They made the issue bigger than before, even leading the investigation into the alliance with Mount Hua.]
[The Second Disciple mentioned Cheonghae and Sichuan should be where they should first investigate, and it is said that they have a plan to divert the attention from the Murim Alliance, the Nine Great Sects, and Five Great families. The atmosphere is… difficult to put into words.]
Shhh
[The disciples are all too embarrassed about this. Among the elders, those who claimed to be neutral are being visited by disciples to urge them. In the meantime, some of the elders swore allegiance to the First Disciple.]
The letters sent told pf how unstable the situation in the Demonic Sect was. And the next letter was what made him more flustered.
[Important news. Captain. Yesterday evening, the First Disciple killed the Third Disciple. It isn’t known by what means the Third Disciple was brought to their needed location. It seems like the Third Disciple was not accompanied by any of her guards. The First Disciple officially had announced that the people under the Third Disciple need to disband right away.]
“In the end, the knife was brought out.”
Seol-Hwi thought that it would be like this from the First Disciple’s point of view, and he must have decided that it would be better to take down one of the middle tier disciples over the weaker disciple.
Seol-Hwi turned to the next one.
[Now, the Second and Fourth Disciple talked for a long time. After that, the troops of Second Disciple moved to the front like the Earth Demon. All the troops of First Disciple and Fourth Disciple are preparing for any potential fights. The sect is in an extremely tense situation.]
[Captain, I hope you understand if the news isn’t delivered after today. The atmosphere in the sect is pretty bloody. All the members of Hidden Troops have been put into combat.]
After killing the Third Disciple, the atmosphere within the sect surely must have been extremely on edge. The Second and Fourth Disciples are holding hands in panic, and it seems like the Second Disciple is helping the Fourth Disciple who lacked sufficient troops.
[The Earth Demon is contemplating a lot. It looks like the Second Disciple is making some demands and he seems concerned. Even if holding hands is profitable now, it seems like there is anxiety since the promise can be broken at any point. The Earth Demon will make a wise choice…]
If it is an alliance with a sociopath…
The pact between these two made Seol-Hwi concerned.
The Second Disciple was not that great of a man in terms of personality, and the Earth Demon must have fallen into contemplation due to that.
Seol-Hwi’s hand touched the next letter.
[The orders have been given. Captain. The Earth Demon started to move with the core warriors, escorts, and the hidden warriors. The Hidden Troops are being made to stand at the forefront. We are not sure what will happen to us… please have a good and safe time there — Yorim.]
[Captain, do not worry. We will make sure to survive — Yong Jin.]
[I am not afraid to die, but it is a pity that I haven’t gotten to see the captain before it happened -– Seo Ryeong.]
“This!”
Seol-Hwi crumpled the letter in the hand and got up.
He won.
Did this not mean that the Earth Demon directly went into the base of the First Disciple?
“Songhwa. What happened?”
Seol-Hwi opened up the last letter and asked.
Songhwa said a year passed, so there should be a few more.
Taking a breath, Songhwa said,
“The last contact we had with them was three months ago.”
“Last? Then…”
“…”
Songhwa didn’t answer. Because there was no way to know what happened.
“This…”
Seol-Hwi’s face went stiff.
He came to realize why Songhwa looked like that when he saw him. He sighed.
Even though things turned out like this, he could do nothing. Seol-Hwi, who thought it, changed the topic.
“When did those crazy demons appear in Hangzhou?”
“The first one was a month back and since then it began to increase. It is said that this isn’t happening just here but all over the central plains. And…”
“And?”
“There are warriors who suddenly appear during important situations, and they are supposedly punishing them.”
“…Mount Hua sect?”
“Yes.”
Seol-Hwi lips were tightly sealed.
If Mount Hua was moving like this, then the First Disciple probably had a victory. Then, what of his subordinates?
The First Disciple is the End Demon who loves to kill, so even his men would be merciless. So if they move, his subordinates will not live.
Then, with them not being out of contact, does it mean that they are dead? Or were they imprisoned inside? What should Seol-Hwi do?
“Master. What do we do now?”
Seol-Hwi could not answer Songhwa’s worried question.
He really wanted to head to the Demonic Sect right away, but he had to be patient.
He had to watch until the end and see how this would play out.
“Songhwa.”
“Yes, master.”
“Will you speak to me about the spells you know?”
“…Yes?”
Songhwa seemed shocked at this.
“Master, spells of sorcery do not happen overnight, and it will take a lifetime for people to even learn them.”
But Seol-Hwi had made up his mind.
“Don’t worry. It will not be as long as you think.”
Songhwa nodded.
He said it, but he could also feel it, that the energy in the body of Seol-Hwi was now different.
“I understand. I will do my best to help you.”
“Thank you.”
“Then, we need to move first. What do you think about moving, Master?”
However, what Songhwa said there was a bit shocking
“…Move?”
“There are too many in Hangzhou. Even if it isn’t the crazy demons who are here, in order to learn sorcery, we need to move to a quiet place, like the mountains.”
“True.”
“Also, if you are too far from the cities, then the flow of information will be a problem to us. Close to here in Zhejiang province is Anhui, Fujian province. And then there is Haenam below. You can think about it. Moving at once is difficult.”
“…I will think about it.”
Opening the map, Seol-Hwi began to think. There was just one thing to do.
Be strong, strong enough to learn this.
So, in the worst case scenario, would he not be able to go back to the past and change this future?
I also need to know why the special techniques are not visible.
He had to find the reason why the system said nothing even after he had touched Supreme Demon.
Please be alive…
Seol-Hwi thought of his men. His heart hurt at this, this luxury he did not deserve to have.
Once he became strong, things could change.
Because the future was something he can always change.