Kumiho had finally left the City of Endless Night, Chusung knew it well. Most of the monsters who reside in the City of Endless Night wouldn’t know about the presence of a ridiculously strong monster like Kumiho, but Chusung knew.
Of course, it wasn’t that Chusung was so good at finding information himself to find out Kumiho’s secret that she would train every few days and leave the City of Endless Night.
“Are you sure?”, Chusung asked as he looked down at the darkness from the CIty of Endless Night, whose lights were dim.
The remark was greeted by a nod of a presence standing near Chusung.
‘That person’s wearing a big robe, so it’s hard to tell if they’re a man or a woman.’ , Chusung thought to himself as he looked to the person who had given him this information.
“Kumiho has definitely left the City of Endless Night.”, spoke the androgynous voice from behind the hood.
Because of the androgynous nature of the being, even the voice made it hard for Chusung to distinguish the gender.
“For future reference, she will not come back for at least 15 days. It will take two days to get to the City of Endless Night from the Hughal Mountains, even for the speed of Kumiho taken into account. This is because you must fast and pray for ten days and nights to get a reception with Maeryeong the leader of the pavilion in the mountains where she is trying to go.”
“Hmm!”, Chusung twitched as he heard the name Maeryong.
He didn’t know the identity of Maeryong or the pavilion,he did know that the reason Kumiho was able to become a nine-tailed fox so quickly, was because of the power from them.
After learning about it, Chusung also wanted to go to the pavilion ruled by Maryeong, but the mysterious hooded person told him, it was not a place he should go to on a whim. Although it was unfortunate, Chusung gave up on the idea of going to the Pavilion.
There were 15 days to act. In that time, Chusung intended to ‘liberate’ the citizens. If Kumiho was there currently, he wouldn’t even think of doing such a thing.
In fact, since Chusung was chased from the village he was slaughtering a few years back, he had developed a grudge against Kumiho.
‘It was then.’ , Chusung gritted his teeth in anger.
The memory of him fleeing in disgrace was still vivid.
Monsters who gain power for themselves, were known to be complete existences of fear from the residents of the forest. But he had lost such a chance due to Kumiho and had his honor stained with disgrace.
That day he had to run away from the City of Endless Night, leaving his pride behind to save his life. But not now. Chusung couldn’t help but feel that he was robbing an empty house with Kumiho gone, but such thoughts were trivial when it came to revenge.
Chusung recalled the arrogant, haughty face of Kumiho staring down at him with contempt back in the tribe he was slaughtering.
‘……hm.’
Chusung had an odd reaction as he remembered her face and looked down at his bulging crotch. Chusung had pledged to himself since that day that he would make Kumiho tremble and grovel before him both in mind and body.
The androgynous and mysterious figure next to him didn’t really care for Chusung’s ambitions. The cloaked figure knew that manipulating Chusung was rather easy. Chusung was an undeniably strong monster, but he was pretty much an arrogant and weak-minded fellow. The mysterious figure could read Chusung’s inner thoughts like a book.
‘You’re such a fool, Chusung is probably thinking of making Kumiho his sex slave later.’, the mysterious figure thought half-heartedly.
He had a rough idea of Chusung’s thoughts, but he didn’t think Chusung’s plan to enslave Kumiho would come to fruition.
“Based on what you’ve said, since Kumiho has been gone from the city for a few days, you’ll be able to take over the city easily…That’s only if you’re as strong as you’ve said though.”, the mysterious figure spoke up to Chusung.
“Without any strong monsters being present or Kumiho, this monster’s body is the strongest in the City of Endless Night.”, Chusung spoke, haughtily banging his chest with his fist in confidence.
Chusung continued with a glare to the mysterious figure, repeating the figure’s words right back at him.
“That’s if what you say is true.”
The mysterious figure behind the hood chuckled to himself and gave Chusung an answer.
“I didn’t lie. I will keep my promise. The City of Endless Night is quite the profit to capture! You just have to make sure you keep your words on the promise you’ve made with me.”
The mysterious, cloaked figure and Chusung had made a deal a month ago.He sought out Chusung who was hiding from Kumiho and offered him a deal. He offered information on how to reclaim the City of Endless Night from Kumiho to Chusung, in return that Chusung would kill each and every elder monster from Predator aside from Kumiho herself.
Chusung accepted the request easily. He was confident if he made plans to kill each of the Great Elder monsters from Predator in a one-on-one fight, as long as they didn’t team up or as long as the target wasn’t Kumiho. He was a monster of great power, but his overall strength was just below Kumiho’s.
In addition, the request of the mysterious figure was one of Chusung’s goals anyways as he wanted to rule over all monsters eventually.
“Let’s go.”, Chusung said in a serious voice as he narrowed his eyes at the City of Endless Night and embers crackled from his body.
The cloaked figure nodded slowly as they headed for the city.
—
It had been a long time since Lee Sungmin last used a breathing technique. Lee Sungmin sat criss-crossed, practicing the pattern of breathing that the tribesmen used. It would take a while for him to thoroughly master it and have it register as a skill.
As it was his first time learning this breathing technique, he needed to be fully focused on the pattern, as through time, he would be able to execute the technique subconsciously even while he slept.
‘It’ll take a while to get there.’ , Lee Sungmin thought to himself as he breathed in and out.
Lee Sungmin was well aware that he did not possess any kind of heaven defying talent in picking up new things. If anything, the only thing he was talented at was hard work ethic.
All the martial arts he had painstakingly mastered had been through long and arduous processes. And everytime he learned a new technique he was always reminded of his poor talent.
[Can you feel it?], Heoju asked Lee Sungmin.
Heoju’s words felt distant to Lee Sungmin as he was fully immersed in concentrating on the technique. Lee Sungmin slowly watched the changes that took place inside his body.
The yokai power at the bottom of his dantian was constantly flickering like a flame growing steadily as it’s influence spread throughout his body. He would normally have to be incredibly conscious of the power and suppress it through several periods of meditation, as it would put pressure on his body when used.
But not now, every time Lee Sungmin continued to inhale and exhale, the power wasn’t being suppressed but rather integrated into his already vast amount of internal energy. If the previous analogy for the yokai’s power and his own internal energy was like oil and water, then now it was like balancing yin and yang.
The yokai powers slowly seeped into his internal energy pathways and mixed with his blood.
Lee Sungmin raised his hand to his face while maintaining the breathing technique. A scarlet hue of aura nestled in his hand faintly.
To be honest, it seemed much weaker than when Lee Sungmin would fully integrate with Heoju, like when he had Heoju forcibly use his powers against Amzone with him.
[It can’t be helped. Your strength right now is currently too weak. You will only be able to utilize a little bit since you haven’t taken too much of the power I offered you.]
‘Give it to me.’
Lee Sungmin demanded Heoju to spread more of his power to him so he could utilize more. Heoju snorted with laughter at Lee Sungmin’s unhesitating glare and sent more energy through to him.
As Heoju sent his power directly to Lee Sungmin’s dantian, a familiar pain spread throughout Lee Sungmin’s body. But before it became too much for Lee Sungmin to handle, Heoju helped balance out the impurities of the power and spread it more abundantly throughout Lee Sungmin’s internal energy circuits, allowing the flow to be balanced.
Poo-hwak!
The force around Lee Sungmin’s right hand turned much thicker and became a darker and deeper hue of red. Lee Sungmin trembled lightly at the surging violent energy surging through to him. Yes, it was incredibly strong, but he could also feel just how ominous the power was if used against an opponent.
He really had to hand it to the old man. Heoju’s power was brilliant.
Although it was great that Lee Sungmin’s internal energy inside his dantian and his internal circuitry was at the peak realm, the gap between his current power and Heoju’s strength in his prime was still large.
[That’s obvious. You and I have lived different lives. Even if you have trained for over 2,000 years inside your subconscious, the realm you reached in your subconscious is different from your power in reality.], Heoju sympathized with Lee Sungmin’s frustration at not being able to reach his former heights faster.
[Don’t get too carried away by your powers though, Even if you can handle the balance of the powers through the breathing technique, it’s still a dangerous force. Your body is a bit special, but……there is a good chance that if you indulge in too much power than you can handle at once, your body can be affected and mutated like your left eye is.]
“I know.”, Lee Sungmin answered in a calm voice.
Lee Sungmin continued to familiarize himself with the ebb and flow of internal energy and yokai powers through the breathing. It wasn’t easy.
When he borrowed the power of Heoju in the fight against Amzone, Heoju had helped him suppress the pressure of losing his mind and breaking down his body. But, by doing that, Heoju also became exhausted and would lose some of his power in the process if it was too intense. Hence why this breathing technique needed to be mastered as soon as possible.
‘Concentrate your mind. Be careful not to get disturbed, and be conscious of your inhaling and exhaling of the breath as you balance the energy at the same time.’ were the words written in the small booklet written by Abrom.
The color of the thick, bloody aura around the hand gradually changed.
The red color turned a bright sheen of violet as the internal energies mingled and intertwined. Lee Sungmin watched it change as his eyes widened. Then he gave out a deep exhale from the immense concentration and stopped the technique.
‘It’s difficult.’ , he thought to himself.
To completely replicate the violent purple aura of power he used against Amzone, he had to be incredibly focused and he could barely do it after several attempts, and that was while being conscious. He had many more ways to go if he wanted to be able to replicate this power subconsciously.
It was okay though, and Lee Sungmin no longer had his defeatist attitude. As long as he worked hard and continued to practice it, he would definitely be able to get it down. Once he did, he was absolutely confident that no matter which realm he achieved, he would be totally superior to anybody else in that realm.
“That’s great!”
Abrom and the other villagers, who were watching Lee Sungmin, spoke in admiration and awe at the power Lee Sungmin exuded for a brief amount of time while learning the breath technique.
“The advent’s power is bigger than all of ours combined! Indeed, you are the reincarnation and advent of our God!”, one of the villagers shouted out as the gap in their powers was clear as day.
The difference between the tribesman who could only use remnants of Heoju’s power through long periods of worship and Lee Sungmin, who could draw the power directly from Heoju himself was bound to be large.
Lee Sungmin smacked his lips as he looked at the village people looking at him with envious eyes.
“They haven’t returned yet?”, Lee Sungmin asked Abrom about Rubia and Byuk Won-Pae
“Yes.”, responded Abrom
—-
As Lee Sungmin was practicing the breathing technique, it was a little frustrating for the Crazy Heavenly Demon and Rubia to just sit still with nothing to do, so they returned to the City of Endless Night.
It may have been dangerous to travel through a city full of monsters, but Byuk Won-Pae was a master at the very peak of the Peak Realm. Unless there was a monster at the level of Transcendence or the Great Demon Realm, there was no reason for him to worry.
Moreover, Byuk Won-Pae was greatly disappointed that Chusung’s whereabouts were unknown, so he went out back to the city to collect his thoughts.
“Don’t be too upset.”, Rubia spoke to the Crazy Heavenly Demon.
The two of them were walking the dimly lit streets of the City of Endless Night.
The stalls sold a variety of foods they had never seen before, and the vendors were monsters rather than humans. It was definitely a new sight to see for both of them as they were mostly around other humans for most of their life.
The lights covering the sky, colored in different colors, scattered far away, and united again. The spectacular fireworks caught Rubia’s eye.
“……hm.”, Rubia muttered.
Rubia, who was watching the fireworks with a dazed look, came to her senses and took a bite out of the snacks they both bought. The Crazy Heavenly Demon smiled at Rubia with skewers in both hands.
“Yes, it can’t be helped.”, Byuk Won-Pae smiled bitterly.
He wanted revenge, but he had no way to go about it.
He knew that his sense of vengeance and anger would be distorted over time and it was an impulsive fleeting feeling of frustration for not having anything to take his anger out on. There was no way to relieve the frustration and anger he felt right now.
The Crazy Heavenly Demon just sighed and exhaled a deep breath to relieve himself. Rubia, who was watching his frustrated emotions, sighed as well and tried to cheer him up.
“Mr. Old Demon, I’ve come out to play with you, so please take a break and relax! The more you frown, the worse you look!”, Rubia said cheerily and skipped along the path circling Byuk Won-Pae like a young child.
“Yes, yes…”, the Crazy Heavenly Demon smiled reluctantly and acknowledged Rubia’s attempts to cheer him up.
He continued to walk around with Rubia and enjoyed the unique scenery as he put away his feelings of anger.
“It’s too bad Lee Sungmin didn’t come with us. It would be nice to come out and play like this at least once in a while.”, Rubia sighed and grinned.
“Eh, isn’t it a good thing that he’s so hardworking and focused on trying to break into Transcendence?.”, Byuk Won-Pae spoke, recalling Lee Sungmin sitting with his legs crossed circulating the yokai powers when they were in the forest.
Lee Sungmin was already at a higher level than the Crazy Heavenly Demon and was incredibly close to breaking into Transcendence. Not only that, now he was practicing how to handle an incredibly powerful force on top of that.
He was an incredibly hard worker, and constantly improving as if he was chasing something far in the distance. The speed he did it at was no joke too, it was like he was being chased by demons and if he slacked off, he would die.
If he continued at this rate, it would only be a matter of time before he reached Transcendence. Lee Sungmin was indeed a great person in all, when Byuk Won-Pae thought of him.
Byuk Won-Pae wasn’t jealous of Lee Sungmin at all either. He was happy for him, as everybody had their own pace and reaching Transcendence was something most people didn’t even have the chances to attempt.
Whether a martial artist was able to break through the wall to Transcendence was another matter of it’s own as there were only a few transcendents in the entire world and even if you got to the peak, it was really a matter of luck and hard-work to cross over. Rather than feeling jealous of him, Byuk Won-Pae was incredibly happy to meet Lee Sungmin and travel with him.
“By the way, when will your master, Envirus show up?”, Byuk Won-Pae asked Rubia suddenly.
Rubia’s face, which was smiling with excitement at the night scenery, suddenly stiffened. She had a droopy expression
“Lloyd said we would meet him in the far South, so maybe.. We might be able to meet soon..”
There was no certainty in Rubia’s voice as she spoke.
Rubia’s master, Envirus, was a mysterious figure who seemed to have many secrets within all of Eria. She may not be showing it, but Rubia was seriously wondering if her master was okay, or if he had become gravely injured of some sorts.
The Crazy Heavenly Demon was about to say something to cheer her up, as he saw her sullen expression.
But, suddenly at that moment…
BOOOM!
A huge and loud resounding noise came from deep within the City of Endless Night followed by screams.