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Chapter 265: What is Listening?

The little pissy brat.

Was it because I saw that annoying face out of nowhere?

Words slipped out before I knew it.

Crack!

The tight mask he wore was enough to create a crack.

“…I don’t really understand what you’re saying.”

“Why don’t you loosen that expression before you speak?”

Look at this guy.

The moment I brought up the little pissy brat, his face crumpled.

Looks like he doesn’t completely forget about that incident after all.

‘I thought he passed out.’

Surprisingly, part of his consciousness seemed to linger.

If that’s the case, it wasn’t a great situation for that guy.

Sure enough, Nangong Cheonjun’s expression shattered and rotted behind that mask.

Seeing his state, he might have thought it was a dream.

Or he could be pretending it didn’t happen, one of the two.

“Considering I dried your pants so you wouldn’t be embarrassed, shouldn’t you express some gratitude?”

“…Shut it.”

Even though I helped Nangong Bi-ah avoid embarrassment, it just made him angrier.

“…You little…”

Look at that.

He’s getting mad right away.

Seeing that gives me some relief.

Thank goodness he doesn’t seem to be growing up at all.

I mean, I wouldn’t have thought positively about him, but still.

“No matter how many times I look, it just doesn’t sit well with me.”

“You sure have some nerve talking to someone who saved your face.”

Sizzle.

As we were exchanging words, a surge of energy brushed against my cheek.

It was Thunder Qi.

Purple lightning flowed from Nangong Cheonjun’s shoulders.

‘How vivid, different from back then.’

Unlike the faint Thunder Qi he emitted during the Martial Arts Tournament.

I don’t know if it’s because his realm has improved or if he did something foolish.

But it was on a whole different level than before.

‘Not that it matters.’

At best, it only shows that he’s barely at the level of late-stage talents.

In my current situation, being a late-stage talent is nothing to write home about aside from the top two or three.

Just as I was thinking about breaking off the incoming energy,

Crash.

A larger energy surged in, swallowing the Thunder Qi.

Though it was the same Thunder Qi.

It had a denser, far more overwhelming presence.

As that Thunder Qi locked onto me, someone stepped in front.

It was Nangong Bi-ah.

“Cheonjun.”

Her voice flowed out cold, filled with rage.

I hadn’t heard her voice in a long while.

“What are you doing?”

“…Older sister?”

“What the heck is going on…?”

She hadn’t drawn her sword, but energy was flowing from Nangong Bi-ah.

It was the energy of Sword Mastery, mastering the peak level.

It’s only been a year since she crossed the wall and is now taming and controlling it.

‘…It’s surprising every time I see it.’

For me, it’s just remarkable.

To see these talents brush against what might be considered heavenly up close.

Each day it feels more astonishing.

In my previous life, I was filled with jealousy and self-doubt regarding such matters.

But now, I’m not like that anymore.

As dense Thunder Qi began to encircle the area like a storm.

Nangong Cheonjun squinted at Nangong Bi-ah.

“I just came to say hello.”

“This is not… a greeting.”

Of course, that’s true.

Who the heck would greet someone like this?

Sure, I initiated this, but his intentions were clear, so there was no way it would end nicely.

Nangong Bi-ah’s words made Nangong Cheonjun let out a hollow laugh.

He sighed deeply.

“I see you’re still on their side. It seems the bonds of blood mean nothing to you.”

“…Cheonjun.”

With an expression of discomfort, she called his name once again.

The Thunder Qi that had been radiating from Nangong Cheonjun vanished.

He had locked up the energy himself.

As the threatening aura disappeared, Nangong Bi-ah also withdrew her energy.

Looking at Nangong Bi-ah, who returned to calmness, Nangong Cheonjun remarked.

“If I had known it would come to this, I shouldn’t have restrained myself.”

He left that whiny remark, turning his back towards the thick darkness behind him.

Is it really ending like this?

Did he come just to show his face?

‘That can’t be it.’

I frowned slightly, watching the retreating back of Nangong Cheonjun.

I wanted to know how he got into this situation.

‘Has he regained his Blood Qi?’

When I saw him at the banquet earlier.

The Blood Qi hadn’t been felt in his Lower Dantian since that incident.

But upon closer inspection, that wasn’t the case.

It meant the place to look wasn’t just the Lower Dantian.

The Blood Qi had not completely vanished from Nangong Cheonjun’s Lower Dantian.

The Blood Qi that should have been held in the Lower Dantian.

Was now melting into his physical body.

With the Lower Dantian’s energy untouched.

The faint Blood Qi swirling around his body.

I’ve seen far too many similar situations in my previous life.

‘Back then, it wasn’t Blood Qi but Demon Energy.’

Since my Qi also transformed into Demon Energy.

It couldn’t be said to be exactly the same.

However, just as the natural flow of energy merges into this peak martial artist’s body.

The Demon Energy would naturally blend into his body as well.

If it looked similar enough, then one could argue it was just that.

The reason I see him like that can be boiled down to one thing.

‘Demonization.’

Nangong Cheonjun was, currently, no different from a Demon.

If one were to call it the energy bestowed by the Blood Demon, then it might be ambiguous to call him a demon.

However, from my viewpoint, he appeared not to differ significantly from one.

He may not have been driven mad by madness.

‘But he was always crazy from the start, so it might not show.’

That aside, he might not be caught by madness.

As an example, a Sword Demon, once a martial master of the Demonic Sect.

Had been insane with slaughter from the beginning, and his nature didn’t change just because he became a demon.

Nangong Cheonjun could be of that lineage.

Or else.

‘Blood Qi might not be related to madness.’

Since it’s an energy I don’t know much about.

I must have many expectations.

Separately from that.

‘Why has he become like this?’

After all the turmoil that has erupted since the Martial Arts Tournament.

The fact that I didn’t pay attention might have been the issue.

‘Just drying his pant legs should have been enough, right?’ I helped a grown man who wet himself.

What more could I do about it?

A conscience should be present.

Even if he really transitioned into a demon, or rather, should I call him a Blood Demon?

Anyway, just because he became like that.

I didn’t intend to do anything about it.

Now, for what I know.

‘The Blood Demon is indeed on the move.’

I don’t know what intentions they have, but it’s clear that it’s not entirely his fault that Nangong Cheonjun ended up like this.

Above all.

‘It’s unsettling.’

His state.

The energies I see.

Undergoing changes while his body appears awkward.

It feels as if I want to grab them and pull out their energies right away.

‘Thinking about absorbing it… is this due to his appetite?’

Is there a pig inside me that wants to eat everything?

Or is it because he rarely shows hostility?

Furthermore.

It seemed like others around me had no idea about this.

Could it be because I received the same blood aura from the Blood Demon?

“Hah.”

A sigh escaped me.

‘If he’s just an old geezer, he should have quietly buried himself.’

If he’s a human who acted up centuries ago, he should stay buried.

Why is he still around to annoy others?

‘I feel like I’m going mad for different reasons.’

Not because of the Blood Demon.

But rather, these odd matters fill my daily life.

There was no room for the previous calamity to step in.

Wrapping my throbbing head with my hands, I exhaled.

A cold, white hand reached out and wrapped around my mouth.

It was Nangong Bi-ah’s palm.

“…Are you okay…?”

Her cautiously asked question carried an inkling of anxiety.

She worried whether my mood soured because of what Nangong Cheonjun did to me.

‘How foolish.’

She’s still so inexperienced.

I covered her hand with mine and replied.

“I’m fine.”

“…Okay.”

Nangong Bi-ah still wouldn’t know why I was acting like this.

She only noticed I looked exhausted.

‘So what do I do now?’

If he’s simply intoxicated by his own energies and has fallen.

Honestly, I wouldn’t really want to care.

If he managed to get that far because he was drunk on energy.

Then I wouldn’t want to bother about what to do.

Blood Demon-related issues do make me concerned, but.

‘I wouldn’t want to get involved if possible.’

In fact, if it hadn’t been for the look in his eyes and the words he spoke last.

I wouldn’t have cared at all.

— If I had known it would come to this, I shouldn’t have restrained myself.

The gaze he wore while speaking was dull.

The slight emotions mixed within the energy presented a clear image in my perception.

Thus, I had to make sure to conceal my energy from Nangong Bi-ah.

I didn’t want her to perceive that disgusting feeling from him.

I recalled Nangong Cheonjun’s face.

‘I hope he doesn’t cross the last line.’

This must be the umpteenth time already.

At least more than three times, one could say.

Including the words left behind by the sleeping dragon before his demise, compressed into the reasoning to hold on.

Allowing him to be left alone had its limits now.

‘Next time, there won’t be a second chance.’

He wouldn’t receive this warning.

I’m not tender-hearted enough to pass it on.

I merely gazed in the direction he disappeared into, murmuring.

Perhaps the killing intent leaks, and I watch it barely seeping toward Nangong Bi-ah.

I only hope he doesn’t make a foolish decision.

Standing quietly while observing the darkness, I spoke to Nangong Bi-ah.

“For now.”

“…What?”

“Go back first; I have something to attend to.”

“…?”

Nangong Bi-ah stared at me with sharp eyes, as if searching for something in my words.

Eventually, she nodded.

Leaving her behind, I began to walk away.

My steps towards the garden were quick.

Diving into the dark forest as if seeking distant shadows.

The forest I entered was as dark as I had hoped.

A few towering old trees blocked even the moonlight.

This means it’s a forest where not a single ray of light penetrates.

As I hurried through the woods, Nangong Cheonjun’s ear was filled with a haunting voice.

– I told you not to rashly reveal yourself.

The voice resembled a fading echo.

It was a quiet woman’s voice, yet.

Upon hearing it, Nangong Cheonjun could only contort his expression like a wicked spirit.

“Didn’t I tell you not to meddle in my affairs?”

– Thunder Dragon, I cannot discern what ideologies you hold, nor what your goals are, but it is clear this is still too early.

“It’s up to me to determine what’s early or not.”

—… If you continue to appear this way, the holy flame bestowed upon you by the one will be taken as well.

At the woman’s words, Nangong Cheonjun abruptly halted.

Did her commentary touch a nerve, perhaps?

Yet, rather than anger, a sneer crossed his face.

“Do you have the right to say that?”

—Thunder Dragon.

Rarely did the woman’s voice contain anger.

However, Nangong Cheonjun didn’t seem to care much.

“The one calls you a dancer, thinking you’re something special. In reality, you’re merely a parrot relaying the words of a great being.”

– Watch your words. No matter how intoxicated you are by your energies…

“I’m cautious even now. As you said, I’m the one who received the holy flame,”

That so-called Peng Woojin.

Ignoring the supposed ‘holiness’ he claimed.

It was a power he had earned himself.

After getting thoroughly beaten by him and heading below with the remnants.

That day, facing the great being, Nangong Cheonjun received power.

This meant he had received a choice.

A power to annihilate the insect that took his beloved sister away.

The energy he couldn’t ever grasp.

Strengthening the Thunder Qi that just wouldn’t catch hold, expanding and solidifying his Lower Dantian.

Even the apex wall, which seemed impossible to surpass, was shattered far too easily.

‘Just a little more.’

So just a little more.

Until the newly acquired strength seeps into his body.

Only a little more time. He just needed to get through this moment.

The one proclaimed that when his body merges completely.

And energy returns to the Lower Dantian again.

That was when a new world would finally unfold.

‘Once that happens, I’ll…’

Tear apart his limbs and burn them to ashes.

And afterward… recover his beautiful sister.

After that…

Suppressing the rising desire, Nangong Cheonjun exhaled.

His sister was still beautiful.

Moreover, she had become much stronger.

He recalled the enormous thunder that devoured his Thunder Qi.

His sister has been growing stronger day by day.

There was nothing imperfect about it.

‘Indeed, she’s my sister.’

Thus, I cannot allow such an insect to have her.

His sister, caught in the schemes of that pest, was being misled.

These vain tales and thoughts gradually pushed her away.

…

!..

…

.

Thus, he had to take her back.

It was for that power.

“…How much longer must I wait?”

How much longer until.

Will the complete fusion, spoken of by the great being, arrive?

Nangong Cheonjun asked the dancer again seeking an answer.

Yet, for some reason, the dancer remained silent.

He didn’t like the calm tone with which she treated him.

However, such a lack of response was unprecedented.

Nangong Cheonjun raised his doubts and asked again.

“Why is there no answer…?”

“What answer do you seek?”

The answer came from elsewhere.

A chill ran down Nangong Cheonjun’s spine.

Urgently raising his energy, he turned around.

“…Let go…!”

A hand swiftly clenched around Nangong Cheonjun’s neck.

“You’re asking what answer, huh?”

Struggling desperately, he felt as though his whole body was caught simply by his neck.

Then, soon after.

Before Nangong Cheonjun could even properly breathe, he faced a pair of glowing crimson eyes that seemed to illuminate the dark woods.

“Are you not going to answer?”

With killing intent, they looked up at him.

 

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