Nature’s qi was interpreted in various forms and theories according to tradition and culture.
Early on, the Taoists expressed the qi of nature as five elements around and built theories like feng shui, yin and yang, six equilibrium, and more based on the five elements and balance.
In the Demonic Sect, nature’s qi was regarded as the four fundamental energies in the world and the representative martial arts created on that theory was the Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts.
Void Air Movement was a technique which used nature’s qi.
It could be used to move objects which are far away and can destroy them at times. In order to move nature’s qi, it was essential to tap into the upper dantian.
This was why only warriors who had risen to a higher stage could do it—
The ones who were Supreme Demon and such.
But surprisingly, Seol-Hwi used the technique without having reached that stage and was using it with specific martial arts.
So Ack Bi and Cho Ah-ran were shocked.
“It is fine…”
Seol-Hwi could not answer when asked by Cho Ah-ran about how he did it right then.
Actually, he himself was shocked at what he did. It was because the use of this Void Air Movement was actually a skill which ended up being used when he was trying to follow what she said.
“Huh…”
Cho Ah-ran did not ask Seol-Hwi any more questions, who was as puzzled as her. However, no matter how much she thought about this, him using those two martial arts just now could not be chalked up to just extreme battle sense.
In order to understand this entire thing, she had to point out whether her technique and the Void Air Movement could actually be merged, but the result however was here.
Seol-Hwi did it.
It was because the Blood Qi Shot itself was shot at Ack Bi and moved with its own force. The attack was similar to those told in the swordsman’s myths.
Blood enhanced qi was not used…
Right now blood enhanced qi was lower than Blood Qi Shot.
Because of that, there was a difference in the effect of it, in which strong qi was used.
Nevertheless, it can be said that he used the Void Air Movement.
He had already displayed the skills to the point where he can be considered to be on the Supreme Demon level, not just in terms of achievement in martial arts but understanding.
“Ahem.”
Meanwhile, Ack Bi was trying to get up. He staggered for a moment after getting used to the shock and then got up.
Actually, it was impossible to damage him as he had used a defensive technique.
“…Amazing.”
Ack Bi came came to his senses and evaluated the attack Seol-Hwi used.
In his heart, he felt shocked. When he tried to defend against Seol-Hwi’s attack, the air around had swayed a lot, and the Blood Qi Shot changed directions and moved up.
Flustered, he had moved his body back which resulted in greater damage than before.
“As promised I’ll give you one wish. And…”
He spoke with his shoulders stiff.
“If you manage to make me step back another time, I will present to you all my internal qi.”
Internal Qi transfer?
The blow just now must have hurt his pride, but he was still smiling. As a teacher, he must be happy that his disciple had grown so much.
In addition, it was because he judged that if he understood the esoteric martial arts such as Blood Demon Arts, his understanding of other things had risen higher.
“Then, I will do it again.”
Wooong
Seol-Hwi prepared for the second attack, holding his sword as if it was resonating with him.
Cho Ah-ran watched Seol-Hwi carefully and also looked at Ack Bi on the other side. Ack Bi was not in a defensive stance like before. Rather, it seemed like he wanted to accept the attack head on.
This…
Seeing him like that made Seol-Hwi tremble.
A faint airflow could be noticed.
The flow of the air was slowing down around Ack Bi. What that meant was clear.
‘It seems like something similar to the time bond is happening.’
Although the operation process was different from the White Light Body Demonic Martial Arts, this was also a martial art based on yin qi.
It was one of the absolute powers when it came to adjusting time.
And Ack Bi was using it.
He never noticed it before, but with the upper dantian opened up for Seol-Hwi, he could clearly feel and see it now.
Then, should I try it too?
When Seol-Hwi infused qi into the tip of his sword, blood qi came out.
And it noticeably decreased in size to become more condensed.
As soon as the bloody aura faded, the sword of Seol-Hwi began to tremble.
The preparation for the technique was done.
Now!
Swish!
As soon as the tip of the sword was aimed at Ack Bi, it shot out a shot of qi.
The blast was as swift as lightning. The difference was that the blood qi shot now did not fly in a straight line, but was moving around like a spiral.
And it exploded like ordered when it got close to Ack Bi.
Shhh
However, Ack Bi was not there at its destination. He was about three or four steps away when he appeared.
…!
Seol-Hwi was shocked.
This was his intention. Apparently, Ack Bi had seen through the attack and dodged it. And his movement had gone past the restraints of time and space.
“It is one of the forms of the Blood Demon Hand, right? Exploding it right in front of the enemy and making it physically impossible to block.”
Ack Bi spoke confidently, but Seol-Hwi was seeing a completely different situation.
It is like I am in the position of Heavenly Demon’s in the past…
The past life’s final battle, at that time, he had used the time bond.
And the Heavenly Demon easily broke it. The time manipulation which was a huge advantage to Seol-Hwi was just an object to break for Heavenly Demon.
If only I could overcome the bond… I wouldn’t be as helpless as I was back then.
For a long time, Seol-Hwi needed two things he had to overcome. The first was an opponent who could slow time.
The second was to bind the flow of time more strongly than the opponent could beak. But these two were impossible in his current state.
There—
There is no way to destroy the Blood Demon Hand martial arts.
Seol-Hwi put his sword down.
At that Cho Ah-ran looked curiously at him, and Ack Bi looked the same.
“I lost.”
“…?”
“I don’t see any openings.”
At that, Ack Bi nodded. After that he spoke with a subtle expression.
“…You did well.”
The words did not seem to matter much, but Ack Bi was actually impressed internally.
Was it noticed?
Was it noticed that he had slowed down time? Was that why he gave up so meekly before the fight started?
“Then it is my turn now.”
Cho Ah-ran walked to where Ack Bi was standing.
“Be prepared.”
“Prepared for what?”
Cho Ah-ran said unbothered.
To be honest, she was surprised by how the use of the Blood Demon Hand was changed and used combined with Void Air Movement.
But that was all.
Such eccentricity would be hard to come by again. Even if it did happen, she had no intention about acting like Ack Bi.
“Third time. Any kind of attack can be done.”
Cho Ah-ran’s eyes were sunken as she stood in that spot. She was more at ease than Ack Bi, and also had a light hint of alertness.
In the midst of this, Seol-Hwi remembered the method of internal qi to be used for ice arts and not the Blood Demon Hand.
If you control the flow of time… it will definitely work.
If the power of the Blood Demon Hand lied in speed and accuracy, then ice arts were about restraining and controlling time.
The beginning of this came from the internal qi cultivation. In the past he never cared about this, and all the methods he learned were taken for granted.
In this life, it was clearly imprinted in Seol-Hwi’s mind.
“Hurry up now.”
At Cho Ah-ran’s urging, Seol-Hwi made his qi circulate.
Then, he pushed the energy into his body through his feet and palms. And pure white qi continued to flow from his arms and hands.
Swish
And as soon as he practiced the internal qi cultivation, a change occurred. The air flowing in front of his eyes had slowed down.
And at some point, everything around turned silent.
This is the first stage.
The control of time possessed by the Ice Moon Divine Arts had three stages.
The first thing was that the surroundings would get silent like now. At that time, Seol-Hwi did not bother waiting and fired the ice arts at the opponent.
Chung
The pure white ball of ice flew in a straight line. And as expected, Cho Ah-ran cut that off at once.
Kwakwakwak!
The ice ball which had been cut hit the wall and shattered.
“Huh.”
Cho Ah-ran looked at it like it was not special.
But the smile on the lips of hers was still there. It was because she knew that the skill used just now was just a warm up.
Now the first step.
The sound of metal could be heard through the silence. And the scene where the surrounding flow came out one after another like illusions came.
Seeing this, Seol-Hwi realized that the flow of time had slowed down several times more than he thought.
So, this time, he showed the act of lowering his sword, and at one point, this time, he raised his sword in swift motion and shot it.
…Huk!
There was a slight look of shock in Cho Ah-ran’s eyes. She almost missed the movement of the ice ball shot.
This was because it was used at a speed where her eyes could barely see it. It was a lot different from the one before.
Chaang!
But as expected, Cho Ah-ran was a warrior on the Supreme Demon level.
Despite the late response, the ice ball fired had been cut.
Kwakk!
And it shattered into pieces as it hit the wall behind.
This… third one.
When his internal qi began to circulate again, everything was slowing down, and even the body of Seol-Hwi began to slow down.
“Haaa-hmm!”
The ice ball which was shot in that state unlike before was close to transparent now.
“…!
Cho Ah-ran reacted to such a perfect time bond.
Was it because there was not even time to swing the sword?
Tuk
As soon as he let the attack go, she used the Blood Demon Hand at her fingertips.
However, instead of cutting the ice ball like before, it completely stopped. And as the ice broke this time into hundreds of crystals.
The ice ball shot Seol-Hwi used was one which had multiple individual ice ball shots in it.
“Kual!”
Cho Ah-ran suddenly was hit by the ice crystals, and she performed footwork to where she had to move back, but that did not prevent the damage she took.
“To use the Blood Demon Hand like this…”
Even Cho Ah-ran knew about the martial arts Seol-Hwi was using. But what Seol-Hwi used was not the usual ice arts.
Seol-Hwi knew that she was aware of this martial art.
“Do you think it is a draw? Hahaha.”
Seeing that, Ack Bi laughed.
He did not think that she would take damage like this.
Really, his battle sense was as good as a veteran’s.
“Disciple. Aren’t you already at the level of reaching Supreme Demon?”
Ignoring Ack Bi, who was laughing, Cho Ah-ran asked Seol-Hwi that in a serious tone.
Seol-Hwi answered feeling that this was not how she usually was due to how she addressed him as “Disciple” and not brat.
“…Right.”
“Then why? Why didn’t you step into the Supreme Demon realm?”
“Because I haven’t fully understood what nature qi means. And what it means to embrace it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I feel like I have been lacking a lot when it comes to understanding that. As a result, I could feel that my body was lacking.”
“You…”
At those words, Cho Ah-ran said with a surprised expression,
“You want to go to a higher realm.”
She knew what it meant for Seol-Hwi to say that. Normal warriors would be content with the Supreme Demon level.
But there was something to regret when one hit the wall. They would regret the time when they did not lay a solid foundation.
However, even if they realized that later on, it would still be a situation that could not be undone.
“Right. Great attitude. Normal ones overlook it.”
“…”
“Training is done. And from now…”
She smiled as she said,
“Let’s do a class we couldn’t, disciple.”
Cho Ah-ran smiled while pretending to act like a normal girl, and for the first time, Seol-Hwi felt that she was pretty.