Chapter 199: Inner Qi, Changes

His Dantian felt as though it was about to burst.

If any part of it tore, even slightly, everything would be over. The consequences if this enormous power escaped the Dantian were too horrifying to imagine.

Even if he survived by some miracle, if all the Inner Qi he had accumulated scattered, it would be no different from dying.

As the Dantian swelled further, Lee Jaseung’s abdomen became visibly distended.

Someone, while drinking at a tavern, must have joked that there was no point in gathering Inner Qi until one’s belly burst.

Lee Jaseung was in precisely that situation. Inner Qi was truly gathering in his Dantian to the point where his belly could explode. And it was Inner Qi of three distinct natures.

The energies gathered, then dispersed, and gathered, and dispersed again.

Lee Jaseung gritted his teeth. The task of merging the energies was more dangerous than he had anticipated, but Lee Jaseung felt no regret.

Nothing in the world is obtained for free. If you want to gain something, you must pay the corresponding price.

As always, when a difficult moment arose, there was only one thing Lee Jaseung did.

Trusting himself.

More precisely, trusting his own effort.

Effort was for moments exactly like this.

It won’t burst. I can endure it. My effort will never betray me.

A tremendous force raged within the Dantian.

Lee Jaseung’s efforts to somehow merge the energies continued. If he left the internal force running wild like this, the Dantian would ultimately fail to withstand it. He had to somehow merge those forces into one and stabilize them, like taming a savage beast.

Enduring the anxiety and pain, he continued to merge them.

Then, at the very instant the three energies coalesced into one.

Boooom!

A tremendous explosion erupted in the Dantian.

Simultaneously, Lee Jaseung collapsed.

* * *

Swaaaaaaa.

Yeo Su-in sat by the window of the inn, gazing out at the falling rain. Heavily intoxicated, his face was flushed red.

He was recalling that day, long ago. It had been raining like this on that day, too.

Swaaaaaaaa!

In the pouring rain, a woman was dying.

She was Yeo Su-in’s junior, Sobi.

She watched the blood flowing from the wound in her chest wash away in the rainwater, then laboriously lifted her head.

Yeo Su-in stood before her, his sword hanging low. The sword, which had turned red with her blood, had already been washed clean by the rainwater.

“……Senior Brother.”

Just as she was about to plead for her life with a look of agony, her eyes met Yeo Su-in’s.

Yeo Su-in’s eyes were utterly cold. Realizing that no appeal would ever work, Sobi’s face filled with resentment.

“……You said you liked me, did you not?”

Her question contained various mixed emotions, but the emotion contained in his answer was only cold indifference.

“It was a lie. It was a trick to make you lower your guard.”

“…Lies.”

That single word was Sobi’s last. It was impossible to tell if she was repeating what Yeo Su-in had said, or if she was calling Yeo Su-in’s present statement a lie.

Swaaaaaaa.

Yeo Su-in looked down at her corpse and said softly,

“I hope you don’t meet a man like me in your next life.”

The woman, growing cold, offered no reply.

Yeo Su-in emptied his liquor cup again.

Despite the meaninglessness of his last words to her, he was smiling contentedly.

Since then, he had never felt mourning or longing for her. Instead, when he recalled her on a rainy day like this, he had the illusion that the rainwater carried the scent of her flesh.

Just then, the First King approached and sat down across from Yeo Su-in.

“We have formally requested an interview with Baek Seolyoung at the Murim Alliance.”

Yeo Su-in, who had been looking out the window, turned his head toward the First King. His expression had already returned to its usual state.

“Did you also convey that if they refuse, we will cancel this meeting and return?”

“Of course.”

“We started this just to divert Lee Jaseung’s attention elsewhere, but the situation is taking a strange turn.”

The First King secretly could not understand.

‘Isn’t that all due to the Young Lord’s actions?’

If things went wrong, he should just return to the headquarters. But Yeo Su-in had started to take an interest in Baek Seolyoung.

‘If you’re not going to ravish her, you should just return. Are you seriously planning to play a game of love with that woman?’

The First King did not realize that his internal thoughts were clearly reflected on his face.

But Yeo Su-in did not scold him.

Yeo Su-in was inherently a very suspicious person. The person he was most wary of was someone whose intentions he could not fathom. He preferred it when someone revealed their true intentions, like the First King.

The First King cautiously spoke.

“Still, she is the wife of the Alliance Leader, so she won’t easily yield.”

“That’s why she might easily yield.”

“Pardon?”

“She’s not yielding because she’s the wife of the Alliance Leader. She won’t yield because she’s smart.”

The First King often could not understand Yeo Su-in. He had served Yeo Su-in for over ten years. He should know him by now, but he still could not fully comprehend him.

Yeo Su-in licked the liquor from his lips with his tongue.

“Smart women are charming.”

* * *

Lee Jaseung slowly opened his eyes.

His cheeks felt numb from how long he had been lying on the cold floor.

Fortunately, I survived.

Lee Jaseung slowly turned his body. There was nothing as foolish and dangerous as moving suddenly at a time like this. He had to observe his body’s condition and move slowly, very slowly.

Lee Jaseung lay on his back, looking up at the ceiling, and slowly exhaled.

“Phew.”

Truly, at the final moment, when he felt his Dantian explode, he thought everything was over.

Luckily, the Dantian had not burst.

Lee Jaseung slowly rose to his feet.

His eyes, which resembled the abyss, were deeper and clearer than before. The clarity of his gaze did not make him look gentler.

Rather, the opposite was true.

The clarity provided a stark sharpness, so vivid that it was unsettling.

But that was only an external change, Lee Jaseung himself remained the same.

Lee Jaseung first checked his Dantian.

The first change he felt was in the attribute of his Inner Qi.

Originally, Lee Jaseung’s Inner Qi was divided into two types, extreme Yang and extreme Yin. But now, instead of the extreme Yang and extreme Yin disappearing, it had transformed into Inner Qi without an attribute.

However, that lack of attribute was not the one from the very beginning when he first learned martial arts technique. It was an Inner Qi of an entirely new nature.

Next, Lee Jaseung checked how many years his Inner Qi had increased by.

Five hundred and forty years worth and one hundred eighty years worth, plus thirty Demon Restoration Pills. With all this combined, even Lee Jaseung, who thought he needed no more Inner Qi, felt his heart pound.

Sixty years, a hundred and twenty, a hundred eighty.

Lee Jaseung was astonished.

The Inner Qi in his Dantian was only one hundred and eighty years worth now.

He hastily checked his Inner Qi once more, but it was simply one hundred eighty years worth, not seven hundred eighty years worth of Inner Qi.

What on earth had happened?

It was truly incomprehensible.

Doubt superseded anger. And that doubt led to a clever realization.

Lee Jaseung stood before the Cold Steel of Ten Thousand Years wall where he had punched earlier.

He punched beside the dent. The force was exactly the same as before.

Kwaang!

The wall bent under Lee Jaseung’s fist. Compared to before, the same force went much deeper.

It is as I suspected!

A bright smile finally appeared on Lee Jaseung’s lips.

The quantity of Inner Qi had decreased, but it had transformed into a higher grade of Inner Qi.

The two opposing natures of Inner Qi and the Demon Restoration Pills had mixed to become a single Inner Qi, elevating its quality. It had not merely become purer, its very nature had changed.

Profound depth could truly be felt in the Inner Qi. It had become Inner Qi that was profound yet refined, truly the finest Inner Qi.

That was why, even when using the same quantity of Inner Qi, its power had become much greater.

Naturally, the Dantian also changed.

It became much larger and stronger. The large Dantian gave a feeling of emptiness with only one hundred eighty years worth of Inner Qi. It had been a long time since his Dantian had not felt completely full.

Earlier, as his martial arts technique improved, he felt a sense of perfect technique, and now his Inner Qi had reached a level commensurate with that technique.

Serendipitous encounters had accumulated one after another, leading to a great harvest, and now both his Inner Qi and external martial arts were perfect.

Lee Jaseung was overjoyed, feeling as though he could fly.

It was incredibly difficult to increase Inner Qi by even sixty years when he already possessed five hundred and eighty years worth.

However, increasing Inner Qi from one hundred eighty years worth would not be difficult. All the Inner Qi he gained from now on would proliferate as higher grade Inner Qi.

Despite this immense harvest, his grade in martial arts technique still remained at the second sublevel of the Transcendent Peak Realm. Of course, he must have developed further within that second stage.

Because the stage demands so much, this fortuitous encounter was insufficient to ascend to the next stage.

Lee Jaseung felt no disappointment. If he steadily progressed one step at a time, he would eventually reach it.

Lee Jaseung burned the letter Ho Yeonbaek had left behind with the True Flame of Sammae.

Blaaaze.

Now, the secret of the Demon Restoration Pills left by Ho Yeonbaek had vanished.

It was a matter of gratitude and regret.

But the fact that the arrangement he left behind had passed on to him was an act of Providence that even he could not prevent.

Lee Jaseung walked toward the door through which he had originally entered.

The door opened by itself. All the gates opened automatically, and the stone door he had first entered through was the same. It seemed that once the box containing the Demon Restoration Pills was opened, all the mechanisms were disabled.

When Lee Jaseung came out of the secret stone chamber, Ho Yeonsin was not inside the Heavenly Demon Secret Cave. It seemed he had grown tired of waiting and had left first.

When Lee Jaseung came out of the Heavenly Demon Secret Cave, it was night outside.

He stood there for a moment, looking up at the night sky, when he felt a presence behind him. This was followed by an angry voice.

“Where on earth have you been?”

He turned around to see Ho Yeonsin standing there, frowning.

“I just stepped out for some air.”

He answered as though he had gone outside and returned. Ho Yeonsin did not know about the existence of the secret stone chamber.

“If you go somewhere, you should tell me.”

“It was for you.”

“What?”

“You are the owner of the Secret Cave. I left the area so you could quietly look around and feel everything.”

Ho Yeonsin wore a troubled expression. He had not realized that Lee Jaseung’s intentions were such.

Of course, it was a lie. Lee Jaseung knew exactly how to handle him, given his pride and single-minded nature.

Lee Jaseung planned to actively use Ho Yeonsin and Ho Yeonseo for his future great task anyway.

How to deal with them in the end was a decision for a later time.

“You still should have told me before you left.”

Ho Yeonsin, who had been sharp, softened considerably.

This time, Lee Jaseung asked,

“Did you gain any insight inside?”

Ho Yeonsin shook his head. The writings on the wall were moving, but they did not provide the realization needed to achieve the pinnacle of the Nine Divine Demonic Arts.

“What about you?”

Lee Jaseung then showed him the dagger he wore on his ankle.

“I had a harvest.”

Although it was insignificant compared to the real harvest Lee Jaseung obtained from the secret stone chamber.

Ho Yeonsin did not care at all that Lee Jaseung had taken the dagger. He believed that Lee Jaseung had the authority to do so anyway, and it was a dagger he did not use.

“Now, I granted your request. So, release us now.”

“I am not the type to easily release a fish I’ve caught.”

Lee Jaseung gazed at the frowning Ho Yeonsin and added.

“There’s something else you need to do for me.”

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