---

Chapter 167: The Thing I Want to Show

Kuwung!

Just one sound.

My shoulder just got dislocated from that.

Kwahng!

Another bang.

I wonder where it went this time.

I can’t be sure.

My senses and vision are both hazy.

I swung my sword instinctively.

The sharp energy at the sword tip remains threatening.

The divine energy within my body reinforced Jang Seonyeon’s flesh and martial arts.

I could easily defeat a martial artist at the same realm.

I raised her to a high level where she wouldn’t even graze my collar.

But—

Kwaddeuk!

To her, it was merely a jest.

“Guhuk…!”

Jang Seonyeon staggered back a few steps, clutching her chest and sank to the ground.

“Why….”

It was a whisper that escaped her lips, unconsciously.

“Why do you think?”

Gu Yangcheong seemed to have heard that like a ghost.

He reached out to Jang Seonyeon.

She flinched and trembled.

Damn it….

Jang Seonyeon suppressed her shaking shoulders, cursing inwardly.

The extended hand merely brushed against Jang Seonyeon’s cheek.

It was utterly humiliating.

Why?

Why, indeed?

“You don’t know, do you? You’ll never know.”

Maybe she wouldn’t know for her entire life. I wouldn’t mind that.

Why? It’s a simple story.

The saying that the strong survive had significantly faded now, but the essence of the Central Plains still revered the weak and sought alliances.

In the end, it was simple: she was weak, and I was strong.

“Yet, I was stronger than expected.”

I had hoped to show a fair play, especially since so many eyes were on me, and discreetly kill her.

Yet, she turned out to be stronger than anticipated.

Thanks to that, I had to use energy to invigorate my physical body.

I had thought I wouldn’t need to use it against a late-stage talent.

“Is she at the peak level, perhaps?”

When considering realms, she was at some sophisticated level of first-rate.

Just considering that alone makes no sense at her age.

Nangong Piss-Pant wouldn’t compare.

If we compare, she could stand shoulder to shoulder with members like Guild Leader and Sword Dragon.

That being so, she used some unknown power to elevate her realm.

“Yet, it’s not like she pierced through the Lower Dantian.”

She couldn’t experience the feeling of shedding her skin at the peak level.

It was merely a fragmentary growth, and she didn’t seem to maintain it for long.

“Perhaps that’s why she didn’t use it from the start.”

In a situation where I could barely win, she hesitated, but I doubted it was merely to make excuses.

Then that could mean she can’t keep it for long, or there’s a limit to how many times she can use it.

Maybe it was both.

“If the energy I took from Nangong Cheonjun is familiar to her, can I also use it?”

I managed to attempt, but the energy didn’t seem to respond.

The divine energy was purging faster than the demon energy was remaining, so there was really no room for further experiments.

“This is different from demon energy.”

Sure, demon energy could enhance the body, but it didn’t upgrade martial arts abilities.

Ultimately, it’s merely a drive to utilize demon power.

It felt like a sign of having become a demon.

“However, this….”

I recalled when Jang Seonyeon split the flame with a single strike.

I thought she would merely evade it, but she actually split it.

Swiieek!

While I was lost in thought, Jang Seonyeon’s sword came flying at me.

It swiftly aimed for my neck, but—

Thud!

I moved my head out of the way, grabbing and twisting the wrist holding the sword.

I felt no hesitation in breaking it.

“Gahhh!”

This time, Jang Seonyeon screamed loudly.

She appeared to be holding back, but this time seems like a stretch.

I was a bit surprised here.

That she was actually attacking.

“Was she not frightened?”

I thought I had instilled enough fear in her.

I wanted her to be quietly crumbled down the next time we met.

I couldn’t kill her today, so I thought I’d prepare for an easier win next time.

Yet, she still hadn’t lost her spirit.

Then,

“How far can I break her?”

My mind was filled with that thought.

If I wanted to kill her, it would be faster.

But breaking her would require a little caution.

I couldn’t beat her to the point of no return.

I couldn’t jeopardize the relationship with the Martial World.

“This situation is infuriating.”

To not be able to kill someone I want to kill.

Though life doesn’t work the way I want it to.

The fact that I could do nothing with a punk like this was utterly annoying.

“Why the hell did I even recycle? I can’t do anything.”

I kicked her joint again, forcing her back to her knees.

“If you keep moving like that, you’re going to get hurt….”

Bang!

The sound of my energy bursting out from my hand resounded.

She projected the sword energy.

Even after twisting my left wrist, holding the sword, how is this possible?

“Look at her?”

Jang Seonyeon swung the sword with her broken wrist.

I don’t know how she plans to treat that after this, but I had to acknowledge her spirit.

A martial artist is still a martial artist.

I delivered a solid punch to Jang Seonyeon’s chest, sending her away, and glanced at the referee.

The sparring stage was already in disarray.

Jang Seonyeon was in a completely broken state, making it impossible to continue the sparring.

The referee seemed aware of this, his gaze wavering, but he couldn’t intervene.

“She didn’t forfeit.”

Unless someone loses consciousness or feels confident they’ve won, the referee can’t interfere.

“Does she intend to continue despite knowing she’ll lose?”

She probably realized defeat was imminent long ago.

Even though she ended up in this state, she wants to continue?

“If she’s someone I know, she wouldn’t act like this.”

It was a puzzle.

If it was a person I knew from my past life, they wouldn’t behave this foolishly.

Perhaps after the sparring, she’d engage in some other schemes.

“Could it be that this edition of her is different?”

I hoped it wasn’t so.

It was one of the things I least wanted to imagine.

“Even if that’s the case.”

I didn’t care.

I had no intention of letting what I wanted to do go wrong.

No matter if she was a child intoxicated by power, untainted by corruption.

“As long as what you did doesn’t get erased from my mind.”

Forgiveness or resentment are not so noble concepts.

It was simply that I was angry, and that had to be relieved at her expense.

The reason I focused on her chest was that she left a scar on Nangong Bi-ah’s chest.

The aim was to instill fear.

No grand reason should be attached.

In the end, it was a necessary factor for releasing my own emotions.

I shouldn’t see myself as an adult.

For that would only poison me.

Having lived a shabby and crude life, my past shaped who I am.

Do not deny it.

The more you deny your true self, the more it becomes poison in reaching transcendence.

I needed to rise higher than now.

Much, much higher.

“So I don’t have much time to play with you.”

It was about time to wrap things up.

It wouldn’t suffice as a venting of anger, and prolonging it wouldn’t yield any good.

It was time to finish this.

“Yet, I should at least hit her once more.”

Ending it with just one hit was too dreary.

Either I needed to break her arm again.

Or I could toy with her groin, I had to do one of the two.

It would be too wasteful not to.

At that moment.

Pududdeuk—.

Jang Seonyeon forced herself to stand.

Perhaps due to the forced effort, the cracking of her bones echoed.

Her body must have been damaged, making it hard to rise properly.

The pain must be no joke.

“Such willpower….”

I decided I should give her credit for her willpower.

But the sickening creepy sensation crawled up my spine.

It was easy to recognize.

It was a situation I had endured often in my past life.

Though I didn’t expect to experience it so soon in this life.

“That dumb puppet.”

Jang Seonyeon’s eyes were blank as she forcibly stood and gripped the sword.

She seemed to have lost her senses.

How could she manage to lift her body?

“She was consumed by power.”

When one overexerts the demon energy given to them, their mind can be consumed, turned into a monster.

They call it a state of being consumed by power.

She was precisely in that state.

The energy flowing through her was different from demon energy, but the side effects were likely the same.

“Did I go too far?”

That was the highest probability.

I had beaten her up so much that she couldn’t use it without fearing death.

I quietly observed the staggering Jang Seonyeon.

She wouldn’t die like this, but if left alone, her mind would fracture.

“Should I just leave her like this then?”

Not a bad thought.

If she broke like this, she would appear as a martial artist facing her pride, standing up defiantly.

That way, the Clan Leader wouldn’t blame me directly. Though as a father, he might resent me.

“Still, if he tries to blame me, I’ll have to summon Elder Lee.”

I wasn’t sure if that bear-like old man would be of much help.

It was merely formality.

It would certainly satisfy me to eventually kill Jang Seonyeon by my own hand, yet I wouldn’t ruin matters by obsessing over it.

There were far too many important things right now.

As I was trying to adjust my posture.

The being that had risen looked at me quietly.

With vacant eyes and lifeless gaze, fearing she could charge, I tilted my senses higher.

Contrary to my expectations, she didn’t charge at me.

She merely stated.

“It’s you.”

Suddenly, she spoke to me.

For lips that were swollen and burst, her enunciation was remarkably clear.

Had she not lost her mind?

“What did you say?”

I wondered if I misheard, but she only continued her own thought.

“I felt something shattered, and it’s you.”

Her chuckle was odd.

Without hesitation, I rushed at her to grab her neck.

A strange sensation made the hairs on my body stand on end.

I felt the trickle of cold sweat, flowing like it could slip out without me realizing.

What should I even call this wretched sensation?

| | …

Telegram’s largest novel sharing group…

Over 100,000 novels available for download.

…….

I pressed on Jang Seonyeon’s body, asking.

“What are you?”

As I growled and inquired about her identity, Jang Seonyeon smiled.

Her lips didn’t change; she merely laughed in sound.

“I have a question I want to ask. What are you?”

“What do you mean?”

I gradually tightened my grip around her neck.

Thinking perhaps she was just spouting nonsense, I threatened to break her.

Still, her mouth didn’t stop.

“What are you holding that makes you possess so much?”

Logic would dictate she couldn’t speak normally, given the grip on her neck should be suffocating.

Yet, Jang Seonyeon spat out words nonchalantly.

“No, this isn’t Jang Seonyeon.”

Something was definitely off.

Was this little punk also harboring something inside her?

After consuming so much this life, I’ve seen plenty of creatures cohabiting bodies, so it didn’t surprise me much.

Humans probably could carry some ghosts in their bodies.

The problem was different.

[Heehee….]

The voice echoed, seemingly directly into my head.

At first, I thought it was Shin Noya.

‘Shin Noya…?’

Suddenly, I shouldn’t have been surprised at the sudden return, but as I hurriedly called out for Noya—

[Hee…Heehee….I’m hungry….]

It wasn’t Noya.

“What the hell is this?”

[I’m hungry…. That…that one…eat it….]

Suddenly, an incomprehensible voice began rummaging through my head.

At the same time, the energy in my Dantian started to tremble and shake.

The restless energy became hard to control.

It felt like my commanding power was snatched away.

Of all times, why did this calamity have to arise just when the Martial Arts Tournament was nearly over?

[Eat…! That one…. Eat it…Gotta eat it.]

A cacophony of voices that sounded repugnant in unison.

I had caught only a few remarks, but the headache hammering in my head was unbearable.

‘•••This voice….’

Amidst the struggle against the pain, I recalled that I’d heard this voice before.

Back during the last fight with Nangong Cheonjun.

After absorbing all his energy, it echoed shortly.

And the final encounter with Ya Hyeoljeok in Seomseo.

That voice I heard just before losing my consciousness was eerily similar.

Woong.

“.••!”

As I gripped my head in pain, the energy within me was going haywire again.

This time, it was the Demonic Absorption Technique activating uncontrollably.

‘Damn, I can’t have this.’

If I draw it out again, it’ll only create useless aspirations.

For now, it shouldn’t be known that I could absorb energy.

I was in a panic, trying to free my hand.

Clench!

On the contrary, Jang Seonyeon’s hand gripped my wrist tightly.

“I see. This feeling.”

Her voice, now tinged with a sinister giggle, spoke to me.

“You brought darkness into that small body of yours. With such a great burden within, for you to not break… is it thanks to the size of your vessel? Hardly seems so.”

I wanted to rebuke her nonsense, but my mouth wouldn’t open.

‘What is with this chaotic nonsense?’

Why can’t these beings address me one at a time? Why is it all jumbled together like a crowded marketplace?

I could feel the energy being drained from me, yet she escalated the pressure as if she would never let go.

‘What power is this…!’

Normally, Jang Seonyeon’s strength should have been easy to shake off.

But for some reason, it wasn’t that easy.

“Why is the master of the Abyss in a child’s body like yours? I’m lucky to have learned this now.”

The energy flowing into her body was the same as Nangong Cheonjun’s.

Yet its depth felt different.

And the body receiving the energy gobbled it up like it was a delicacy.

“How long have you been deprived that you’re consuming so enthusiastically?”

That statement gave me certainty.

Indeed, she understood she was devouring her own energy, yet she allowed it to happen leisurely.

Too much.

Jang Seonyeon finally released her grip on me.

As if waiting for that moment, Jang Seonyeon’s body began to crumble.

“Ah, child.”

I still couldn’t reply to her call.

This body seemed to be acting against my will, not responding.

“With joy facing the crack, I shall bestow upon you a gift. Your beast will also greet it fondly.”

“I wished to give you everything, but sadly, this child’s body and soul have some usage left, so I cannot gift it to you.”

“So when your gift becomes to your liking in the future, come to me.”

As Jang Seonyeon’s words drew to a close.

I staggered, kneeling and collapsing.

Even now, the voice continued to resonate in my head. I had so much to say that it was almost urgent.

But even if the senses returned to my body, my tongue remained rigid.

“It was nice meeting you. When you meet the Dancer, tell her this.”

As Jang Seonyeon’s body gradually closed its eyes.

Before her eyelids fell, she added in a very faint voice.

I, Dogo Jun, am looking for you.

With those words, Jang Seonyeon faded away too brutally.

I sat there, letting out a series of heavy breaths.

The energy coursing through me was one issue, but I needed to stabilize my chaotic mind due to the sudden situation.

The referee rushed over, seeing that Jang Seonyeon had lost consciousness, quickly checking her condition.

“…”

After briefly touching her body, he nodded.

Looks like he confirmed she wasn’t dead.

Immediately after.

“The Mount Shan Clan’s Gu Yangcheong wins.”

The referee’s declaration of my victory erupted into roars from the audience that had been holding their breath.

But my twisted expression wouldn’t lift.

 

---