Chapter 153: Five Mountains of Penances (3)
Khan bitterly smiled.
[Don’t ask for the specifics.]
Yeon-woo silently nodded his head. It was sad that the two were now split, but it wasn’t something he should interfere with. It was their business.
[But well, he can take care of himself, so I’m sure he’s doing fine.]
Since he was a child smart enough to be called Foxy Tail. Yeon-woo thought he might see Doyle someday too.
[From now on, you can stay here. The basic necessities are inside, so you can use them as needed.
The place Kahn led him to was a small house.
Like there were people who had lived here before, everything necessary to live comfortably was here.
In the simple backyard, there was a lot of firewood, and an area dedicated to training.
And more than anything, he liked that it was hidden in the forest.
The chance of lost players wandering in here was low.
[You have to find your own food and water, but if you need anything, just come find me. And ask me right away if you need help.]
And Kahn told Yeon-woo other things so Yeon-woo could focus on his training.
However, he also repeatedly told him about things he needed to be careful of. He told him that everyone here was for individual training like Yeon-woo and not to bother them.
Along with the fact that even if he wanted to make light conversation with them, he should ask for their permission first.
[But sometimes people gather when they’re bored. So it won’t be too stuffy.]
Yeon-woo satisfactorily nodded at the thought of being able to focus on training.
***
[Then work hard. I’ve changed a lot since I came here. It’s frustrating, but it’s that much more beneficial for you. If it’s you, you’ll be able to take a lot. And spar with me if you get the time.]
Kahn patted Yeon-woo’s shoulder. The two were able to catch up on things.
Although it was mainly Kahn who spoke and Yeon-woo listened, they were able to understand how the other person had spent their time.
Kahn had put his everything into training. The passion to become stronger. The desire to climb to a higher position. He looked towards that goal and pushed himself.
He couldn’t see the Kahn of the past who had been arrogant and loved himself a bit too much.
He was still like himself, but there was a seriousness to him.
Yeon-woo realized why news of the Blood Sword entering the Tower hadn’t spread. He hid himself, not even caring about fame, and quietly did what he wanted to.
Kahn knew what Yeon-woo had gone through as well. He didn’t tell him the specifics, but Kahn had been amused at what he heard about the war between the two great forces.
Yeon-woo enjoyed the conversation. It was like meeting a close friend after a while. No, he was a close friend. If you weren’t close friends with someone you showed your back to in a war, what was a close friend?
When the conversation ended, a lot of time had passed.
Kahn left saying he needed to catch up on the training he pushed back.
Yeon-woo momentarily looked at his surroundings. He had plenty of food and water in Intrenian, but it seemed wise to prepare for unexpected events.
Fortunately, there was a stream to get water from nearby. He even found a small field, so he didn’t have to worry about food.
When Yeon-woo finished looking around, he pulled back his magic power.
‘I need to cover my magic power if I want to train.’
He became more sure after fighting with Kindred.
The theme of the 20th floor was ‘a battle with oneself.’ The more limits you set on yourself, the more you were uncomfortable, the more you would be able to achieve.
So he was planning on sealing his Magic Circuit again. His Extrasensory Perception became less detailed and he focused his range to just himself.
And when he did that, he felt trapped. It was like he was confined in the darkness, but things were also easier this way.
From now on, he could really focus on his training.
It would be nice if all he had to do to learn the Yin Sword was move his body, but unfortunately, he had to realize his consciousness first to understand the Yin Sword.
Now there was a limit in what he could do physically.
So there was only one thing he could do.
Meditation.
[Combat Will]
His thinking abilities sped up. As he locked his Extrasensory Perception, he really felt like he was trapped in the darkness. He couldn’t tell how much time had slowed down.
Without caring about his environment, he was locked in his Yin Sword training.
***
One thing Yeon-woo felt when he looked at how the Yin Sword was composed was that he wouldn’t be able to solve it normally.
It was something that the One-horned tribe hadn’t been able to solve for thousands of years.
The tribe members that Yeon-woo had seen all this time was that they were strong and acted on instinct, and as they grew older, they became like philosophers. Their knowledge was incredible.
Solving something that they hadn’t been able to solve in a day was impossible.
‘Then I have to use shortcuts.’
The shortcut that Yeon-woo was thinking of was the Dragon’s Knowledge.
He remembered everything Edora had told him about the tribe’s research, and he was planning on using Dragon’s Knowledge to look at it from different angles.
‘If the research of the tribe and Dragon’s Knowledge is combined…..we can somehow find a way.’
It was a method the One-horned tribe wouldn’t have been able to try.
The information Yeon-woo would receive during this time would probably be immense in amount. He might even learn something that surpassed the Eight Extreme Fists.
But Yeon-woo wanted to learn the Yin Sword instead.
He needed to understand it somehow.
He didn’t care about what was happening outside. He thought about his mind and focused on analyzing things. Every attempt was different.
‘Is there another side that’s hidden like a password?’
The first thing he thought of was that the components he was seeing weren’t real and they were somehow hiding the real thing.
He tried flipping around the order of the words. He even tried to add onto the words to find a new meaning from within it.
When these methods didn’t work, he delved even deeper and more specifically into them.
But these attempts ended in failure as well, and the only method left was to understand it. However, like always, he didn’t see how he was supposed to do that.
He thought that it might have some philosophical aspect to it and might be related to their history.
But as the attempts resulted in failure, Yeon-woo couldn’t see what he was supposed to do. He didn’t see the end.
***
[Master! Hey, master! Wake up!]
How long had he been locked in his thoughts? Yeon-woo came to attention at the voice that was calling him.
As his Extrasensory Perception slightly opened, he felt Shanon shaking him to wake him up.
His mind was violently shaking. Hanryeong also looked stiff behind him.
[Are you awake? Huh?]
Shanon’s voice was desperate. Yeon-woo realized his mistake belatedly.
‘How long was I like that?’
How long had he been locked in medication? He closed himself off from the outside, so he couldn’t even tell how much time had passed.
However, seeing his thirst and hunger, he could tell it had been a while.
[How long were you like that? Are you being serious? Master, you might’ve croaked if you were left like that even a little longer!]
‘Me?’
[Yeah! Focusing on medication should only be one or two days, how could you do that for a month? Are you crazy?]
‘A month?’
Yeon-woo was taken aback. He definitely hadn’t expected it to be that long. His sense of time was way off.
Well. Since it had been a month, that explained why his Dragon Body was feeling hunger and thirst.
Yeon-woo quickly pulled out water and jerky from Intrenian to replenish himself.
‘Oh. I wasn’t able to contact Henova and Bicester.]
The time he settled on with Henova was 10 days. Too much time had passed. Considering his personality, it was clear he would be worrying that Yeon-woo was in danger.
Bicester as well. Checking his communication artifact, he could see that he had tried to contact him several times.
Yeon-woo lightly clicked his tongue. Had he found Braham’s location?
[Is that important right now? Whew.]
Yeon-woo bitterly smiled. Well, he could contact Bicester later and tell Edora to relay his news to Henova. He had a way to contact the One-horned tribe as well.
He quickly got out his artifact.
Bicester’s shocked emotions could be plainly felt through the artifact.
[C, Cain-nim?]
[Something came up. Did you find Braham?]
[Yes. I, I thought you might contact me soon, s, so I continued to track him.]
[Where is he?]
[He was a, at the 23 floor.]
[The 23rd floor?]
He had been concerned about what he should do if he was past the 50th floor. But he was unexpectedly closer than he thought.
‘Is the 23rd floor the Devil’s Forest? I guess he would be there.’
The 23rd floor was a floor that was filled with trees that gestated devils, called Devil Tree. It was similar to the Devil’s birthplace, so it was famous for being totally different than the other floors.
Braham would definitely be interested in a place like this.
[Y, yes. I, It’s seems like it’s been a while since he stayed there.]
[Then continue tracking him. And let me know immediately if he leaves for another floor.]
[U, Understood!]
As soon as he finished his business with Yeon-woo, Bicester immediately hung up. That was probably how scary Yeon-woo was to him.
Yeon-woo sighed in relief knowing that he wouldn’t need to rush after Braham and called Edora.
Edora was greatly surprised at Yeon-woo’s contact and asked him if he was hurt anywhere. Yeon-woo explained what happened and asked her to deliver the news to Henova.
[He’s already been here several times. Hmph.]
Like he thought, Henova had probably been worried about Yeon-woo, enough to come find the One-horned tribe. And Edora added that Henova had been staying at their village for some time.
Yeon-woo let her know that he would visit them soon and hung up. He felt his hair that was dusty from not washing in a while and frowned.
A month. It wasn’t a short time. Considering how fast his body had sped up in that time, it seemed like he invested about a year in meditation.
[Since that’s over with, let’s talk about the specifics. What did you learn?]
Shanon spoke in a serious tone. Hanryeong started at him from behind as well. He couldn’t not be interested in it as a martialist.
Yeon-woo shook his head.
‘Nothing.’
[What? Even though you focused like that?]
Shanon was completely surprised. Hanryeong emanated his thoughts as well.
‘I tried this and that. But I didn’t even get a single hint.’
[What nonsense…..]
Shanon knew the weapon Yeon-woo had. The research results of the One-horned tribe and his Dragon’s Knowledge. And his thinking abilities that came with his Dragon Body.
But even with this, he couldn’t solve it? Shanon couldn’t imagine how that happened. Hanryeong was thinking the same thing.
[That’s not a scam, right…..]
‘No. It’s not a scam. I’m sure it’s real.]
Yeon-woo had also thought about what Shanon brought up.
When he couldn’t find any clues, it was obvious that he would suspect if the Yin Sword was just a legend.
But as time passed, Yeon-woo became more sure. This was real.
What he got from trying to learn the Yin Sword was plenty, and Yeon-woo was able to have a deeper understanding of Mugong in the process.
However, he didn’t have a single clue about the Yin Sword itself.
Because no one had learned how to open it, it wasn’t released yet. Once it was opened, things would definitely fly out from it like Pandora’s Box.
The problem was that he couldn’t find a way to unlock the key.
[I guess. Unless all the oldies of the One-horned tribe got Alzheimer’s, they wouldn’t have held onto this for so long.]
Shanon tsked. He also wanted to see the Yin Sword.
‘I don’t know how to approach it.’
It felt like searching in the fog. Even when he first learned Mugong, he didn’t feel this way. It was incomparable to back then.
Then, the quiet Hanryeong spoke up.
[If it’s like you’re searching through the fog, how about taking tiny steps?]
‘How?’
[Even if it’s hard, Yin Sword is also just a sword technique. Then shouldn’t you learn the sword first?]
‘You’re saying to establish the basics first.’
[Yes.]
Shanon nodded like he agreed.
[Yeah. What Hanryeong is saying makes sense. There’s time when you have to move your body instead of theorizing about things. Training till you become a master of the sword.]
Martialists divided people who learned about martial arts into roughly 3 classes.
A master, who completed things until the end.
An expert, who surpassed completion and took it to another level.
And an arhat, who surpassed even that.
Yeon-woo had learned a lot about the Eight Extreme Fists, but not enough to be called a master.
‘So I need to be a master first.’
Shanon and Hanryong were more advanced than him in martial arts. Then he needed to listen carefully to their advice.
‘If you want to be a master, how strong do you need to be?’
[You have to be able to make Aura.]
Aura.
A strength that condensed magic power into a blade.
Being able to do that much sounded alright for a master.
And Yeon-woo had a standard for making Aura.
The Eight Extreme Fists.
He would need to finish the Eight Extreme Fists that he had pushed back for a while now.