Chapter 937
Chapter 8: Unexpected Encounters
“…”
This ceiling looks foreign.
It was my first impression as soon as I opened my eyes.
No, it’s a ceiling I’ve definitely seen somewhere before, but it wouldn’t be wrong to say it feels rather unfamiliar.
Could it possibly be the ceiling of the place I’m staying?
It must be the space prepared behind Shin Noya. Although I hardly ever come here, so it’s a place I hardly know.
‘Well, I should have at least slept here once.’
Ever since coming to the Hwasan Sect under Shin Noya’s guidance, I’ve never actually slept in this place.
Not just here, it feels like I haven’t had sleep at all.
I was always busy doing something or tidying up, so there was simply no time to rest.
And besides, my body isn’t in such a state that it would fall apart from skipping sleep, so I just kept going without sleeping.
So I never really got a chance to see what the place was like. Hence, the ceiling feels strange.
A ceiling is just a ceiling, but for now, I should get up.
As I thought that, I pushed myself off the floor with my arm.
Creeeak—!
“…!!!”
I almost screamed involuntarily due to the pain radiating through my entire body.
“Ugh….”
Barely managing to hold back, I let out a muted groan.
It was certainly too painful to keep it in completely.
I remained still for a while, my body stiff and trembling.
My body wasn’t responding and was shivering uncontrollably.
Just as the shaking was about to subside,
“Ha….”
I sighed heavily, drenched in cold sweat.
“What the hell…?”
The pain was absurdly beyond comprehension.
What in the world is going on?
Not just inside my body, but particularly my left arm felt like it was on fire.
Why is this suddenly happening?
‘…Ah.’
I recalled the events before I lost consciousness and pieced together the reason.
“Could it be that?”
The incident where I struggled to weave that last martial technique.
I had relied on friction and pressure created within it to draw strength.
I had somehow managed to fire off that one attack.
And then…
‘Did I faint?’
My body had simply lost its strength and collapsed.
‘And all for just one attack.’
Barely executing one attack. No, I couldn’t even project it properly.
My stance wasn’t correct, and I had just flailed my fist around haphazardly.
Yet…
‘That’s how it turned out.’
The results exceeded my wildest expectations for such a pitiful punch.
Among all the martial techniques I could use, it might just be the most destructive.
That thought came spontaneously.
It makes sense, after all.
‘Because I combined everything.’
The firepower of the Technique of the Flame Wheel and the compression and explosive force of Tua Pacheonmu.
Along with the energy gained from training in the Realm of the Heart.
And the very fabric of the sorcery needed to weave everything together.
This was the outcome of pouring everything I had into it.
Simply using just the Technique of the Flame Wheel wouldn’t yield such destructive power.
And with Tua Pacheonmu, creating widespread firepower wasn’t feasible.
But mixing those two to unleash it… It would naturally produce such a result.
“Ugh…”
Swallowing the muted groan, I observed my condition again.
I wasn’t sure how long I had been unconscious, but looking at my state, it was a sight to behold.
The energy I had was roughly half full; in fact, blood qi throughout my body was all puffed up.
And how about my joints?
‘They’re not broken, but they’re close to being shattered.’
When was the last time I got so badly mangled in a fight?
Even if my belly got punctured, my regenerating body would heal quickly.
But to be in this condition from a petty scuffle, or rather, from just one flailing punch?
‘Hmm….’
For now, I can’t use it in actual combat.
I was sure of that.
The casting time doesn’t even make sense now, and the quality is utterly non-existent.
If Shin Noya hadn’t been waiting for me to use the technique, my head would have probably been chopped off by now.
Just consolidating energy into one place is causing this level of agony.
To be in this state after releasing it means—
In the end, it necessitated a resolve of life or death to make it work.
It means it wouldn’t work in actual combat.
Yet…
“…Haha…”
I couldn’t suppress the laugh that escaped me.
“See? I told you, didn’t I?”
I was right after all.
Even if my body is wrecked and my energy is running low.
‘In the end, I succeeded.’
I managed to unleash it somehow.
I felt a surge of joy about that fact.
That what I aimed to achieve wasn’t wrong.
And that the results I created were good.
‘Should I call this good?’
I wasn’t sure if it should be labeled as good, but I thought it was good.
Given the energy used and the state of my body, the destructive power was impressive.
‘More than I expected.’
If this succeeds, how amazing would the outcome be?
I had once imagined how great it would be.
It was even higher than that.
‘In the first place, I forced myself to use something I shouldn’t have. It’s only natural for it to turn out like this.’
It’s reckless and should be avoided.
What kind of person would think of blending two mental techniques together?
A normal body couldn’t even contain two mental techniques, let alone—
‘Even if you could, you wouldn’t have a body capable of withstanding both at the same time.’
It was something I had known since the attempt, not just this time.
‘…A normal body would never endure.’
Only with a body reinforced through bitter experience could I withstand it; had it been my body from my previous life, I would have burst apart in an instant.
Even if I questioned myself on why I would have to push so hard.
‘That friction is pure strength.’
Martial arts is ultimately the force generated by a body infused with energy propelling it into motion, creating friction and pressure.
This is derived from how a master creates titanic waves with short, concise moves.
What are martial arts, really?
Some say it’s about embedding one’s beliefs within the body and expressing that belief as energy.
‘What kind of nonsense is that?’
I couldn’t make sense of that.
Martial arts were powers born to beat and smash someone down.
If that’s the case, then rather than focusing on some lofty enlightenment, I feel it’s more fitting to consider how to efficiently embed it into my body.
‘Martial arts is friction and pressure of energy. And rotation. And then, unleashing it.’
If I can create stronger friction, apply greater pressure, rotate it more intensely, and then unleash it—
Isn’t that pretty much the end of it?
That’s how I judged the strength of martial arts.
So where do I gather more friction and pressure from?
It’s possible to draw from the energy of the mental realm, but I believed there had to be another way.
That is—
‘Collision.’
Causing a clash of energies from within.
If I can utilize the friction and pressure generated from that, wouldn’t it lead to an immense power?
That was the thought in my head.
If I can do that, then it’s something only I can accomplish.
Creating friction through the collision of different mental techniques.
No one else in the Central Plains can do it, only I can.
I was fixated on that idea.
Could it be possible?
There is a chance for success that belongs only to me.
For some reason, I was captivated by that notion.
And the pride I felt upon thinking I could accomplish it surpassed my expectations.
‘It’s silly to call it a success, though.’
If it’s a force I can’t use in real combat, it ultimately amounts to failure.
But, I was satisfied with having achieved it, regardless.
Even though my body got wrecked in the process.
“…Huff….”
Holding back the muted groans, I slowly tried to raise my body.
It hurt, but it was bearable.
Let’s just go outside. That was the thought when I attempted to rise from my bed.
Squeeze.
“…?”
My hand found something soft on the floor.
It didn’t feel like cloth.
What could be this soft?
I lowered my gaze.
“…”
And there, our eyes met, the one looking at me from where they lay.
It was a heavenly demon.
She was lying next to my bed, looking at me.
And I was somehow touching her chest.
As moments passed, our eyes remained locked.
“Hello.”
The heavenly demon greeted me with a nonchalant tone.
“WAAAAAH, WHAT THE F–!”
I had to shriek and tumble off the bed.
*
After letting out a shriek as loud as I could, moments later…
“…What kind of expression is that?”
As soon as I stepped outside, Shin Noya remarked. At his words, I squirmed and stammered.
“…What kind of expression am I making?”
“You look like you just chewed on bug poop.”
“…”
With no further response, I squirmed even more as Noya’s expression took on a strange look.
“Looks like something happened during the long night, huh?”
This old man?
“Nothing happened.”
I sighed as I spoke.
What could have happened?
‘It’s not a lie.’
At least nothing happened at night.
It was because of some stupid incident during the day.
“Hmm… Is that so?”
“Honestly, nothing happened, so stop looking at me like that.”
At my words, Noya let out a small laugh.
It was ridiculous.
“What is going on…?”
I ultimately had to ask something I didn’t want to.
“What do you mean?”
“…Why was the heavenly demon lying next to me?”
At my words, Noya’s eyes widened.
“What? Did you sleep together?”
His words sounded astonished, but hearing that made my forehead crinkle like crumpled paper.
“Don’t joke around….”
Noya’s expression felt excessively contrived. It was like he knew everything already.
“Tsk.”
Not pleased that I figured it out, Noya clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“I find that boring.”
“Are you really joking at a time like this?”
“What’s the harm in joking? Didn’t you say nothing happened?”
“…”
I didn’t know where to start explaining.
My head was starting to ache.
‘Oh damn it.’
The scene from earlier kept flashing in my mind.
Especially that I was lying next to her. That I had met her gaze.
And then—
“…”
That lingering sensation was persistently bothering me.
I was trying my best to ignore it.
Seeing my state, Shin Noya looked at me with disdain.
“Dumbass.”
“…Yeah.”
“After you collapsed, that girl helped you up.”
“…”
“I thought you wouldn’t remember?”
I indeed remembered. How could I forget? The last thing I saw before losing consciousness was her eyes and her touch.
“And then as she helped you, she disappeared. So I wondered where she went, and it seems she went straight to that side.”
“Didn’t you try to stop her…?”
“Stop her from what?”
I was left utterly speechless at Noya’s response.
“I was too busy attending to your nonsense, how could I stop her?”
He pointed to somewhere with an exasperated expression.
“Do you know how much effort it took to restore this place to normal?”
I looked at the direction he pointed.
“…Huh?”
Seeing that, my eyes widened.
A vacant field spread out before me. It was clearly the place that had been a wreck just yesterday.
The overwhelming force I had unleashed had wiped everything out in an enormous radius.
There were no traces of that chaos at all.
“…What… how?”
How had that mess been restored in just a day?
Had more than a day actually passed? I pushed those confusing thoughts away when,
“Kkurung, or whatever his name is, lent his strength.”
Noya explained casually.
‘Kkurung, huh?’
The creature labeled as the master of the Abyss.
It was explained that he had used his power to restore this place.
“Seeing him struggle a bit was rather amusing, too.”
Noya chuckled.
His face wore a teasing expression. I was slightly annoyed by that.
“…By the way, Noya.”
So I spoke while trying to tease him.
“You drew your sword after all, didn’t you?”
“…”
At my words, Noya shut his mouth.
“I thought you’d never draw your sword, but you ended up doing so, huh?”
Although he insisted he wouldn’t draw it, in the end, he had pulled out his blade.
I intended to tease him about it, but—
“Indeed.”
Noya produced a reaction completely different from the one I expected.
“You made me draw it. Such a curious thing.”
With that quiet statement, he paused for a moment.
His expression turned serious, wiping the smile from his face.
“Then I’ll ask you this, dumbass.”
“…Yeah?”
“What in the world did you create?”
“…”
What exactly had I made?
Noya’s eyes held curiosity tinged with uncertainty and an indiscernible emotion.
“…Why? Did it seem odd to you as well?”
“It was strange. Which lunatic would use something like that?”
Noya’s reaction indicated he was pondering something obvious.
It seemed he realized how I expressed my power.
“Called a lunatic and a lunatic again, I can’t believe you actually did something so insane. Don’t you have any thoughts at all?”
His scolding tone made me scratch my head in embarrassment.
“…I think it turned out relatively well, right?”
“Sure, it turned out well, but what would you have done had it not?”
“That’s something I was planning to think about later.”
“Ugh.”
Noya let out a frustrated sigh at my careless response.
“Is that really something to say…?”
Just when it seemed he would scold me again…
“…”
Suddenly, Shin Noya stopped his speech.
What is it? As I waited for him to speak with a puzzled look, a brief moment passed.
“Haah…”
Noya deeply sighed, as if feeling exasperated.
Then,
“…Enough.”
He shook his head as if he were giving up.
“Enough now. Just tell me your name.”
“Yeah?”
Out of nowhere, what name? I was confused by his abrupt request.
“Didn’t you just say you created something? But you haven’t even given it a name yet?”
“Ah.”
Then I understood what he meant.
“…I didn’t really think about it or anything.”
I got the gist of Noya’s meaning but couldn’t grasp why he was suddenly bringing up names.
“Then try and come up with one now. Since you’ve committed to it, you should at least try to honor that.”
“…”
Only then did I perfectly grasp Noya’s intent.
He meant to say to completely pursue whatever I’ve started.
So in essence,
‘He respects my choice.’
It felt like Noya’s blunt way of acknowledging me.
“…A name… a name.”
But suddenly being told to name something was difficult.
I hadn’t even used this power in a real fight yet.
Moreover,
‘I have no intention of using it for barehanded combat.’
It was something I intended to utilize only when pretending to be a heavenly demon.
Using the Technique of the Flame Wheel or Tua Pacheonmu would be noticeable no matter how much I mixed in demon energy, so I planned to use something like this instead.
‘Then… since I’m a heavenly demon….’
Could I connect it to the heavenly demon?
I rummaged through various words in my thoughts.
Yet after a long while of thinking, the only name that came to mind was the one I had initially thought of.
So, eventually, I said,
“…Heavenly Demon Technique?”
“…”
I blurted out the name that had been on my mind from the start, and as soon as Shin Noya heard it, his face instantly soured.
What’s with that reaction?
I thought it was pretty cool…?
Was it not?
