Chapter 151: The Demonic Master’s Daughter (1)

‘Ah, I was truly a fool. I even abandoned my fiancé for the sake of martial arts, only to end up shackling myself to that very path. Where could there be a woman as foolish as me? If my brother hadn’t said those words to me, I would have spent my whole life staying at this mediocre level, blaming the world and blaming my brother for my failures.’

The thought sent shivers down my spine.

I felt immense gratitude toward Yong Hwarin, who had chosen not to explain, saying that it would be meaningless if I didn’t realize it myself.

Jegal Cheongyeong had no idea how much this single realization would advance her martial arts.

In fact, from the moment I grasped that truth, my state of mind had begun to shift.

And the moment I gained that enlightenment, another thirst arose within me.

‘This isn’t right. The moment I gained this insight, I found myself desperately wanting to make Brother Hwarin mine.’

Until then, Yong Hwarin had been nothing more than an older brother from the same neighborhood, someone I had grown up with.

And when Yong Hwarin gained fame, I didn’t want to admit that my judgment had been wrong, so I had purposely ignored him.

When he grew close with other women, I felt jealousy from time to time, but that had been nothing more than remnants of the possessiveness I had felt in the past.

But now, Yong Hwarin appeared lovely to me.

At the moment of enlightenment, affection for Yong Hwarin welled up inside me, and even as tears streamed down my face, I felt utterly confused.

Yong Hwarin allowed Shangguan Mijong to release the suppressed desires that had been held back by her stagnant qi. Before long, a breathless, high-pitched moan began to leak from Shangguan Mijong’s lips.

“Ah, ah! Mmm!”

If one quietly listened to that sound, it was unmistakably the same as what was heard when a man and a woman shared intimacy.

The women around, who had been listening, all flushed red and turned their faces away in embarrassment.

‘Is that how I awakened too?’

Each of the women glanced at Yong Hwarin with suggestive imaginations filling their minds.

However, unlike before, they no longer looked at Yong Hwarin with eyes full of romantic affection.

That was something Jegal Cheongyeong found surprising.

Until just recently, these women had regarded Yong Hwarin as a man and had openly tried to seduce him.

In situations like this, their affection might have grown even stronger. Yet, the opposite seemed to be happening, leaving Jegal Cheongyeong tilting her head in confusion, unable to grasp the reason.

“Ah!”

As Shangguan Mijong’s body shuddered and a soft moan escaped her lips, Jegal Cheongyeong couldn’t bear to watch and turned her head aside.

At that moment, Shangguan Mijong’s trembling ceased, and a blush spread across her cheeks.

Meanwhile, Yong Hwarin removed his hand from her Crown Point and let out a long, heavy sigh.

‘If I keep awakening people like this, I won’t last.’

Yong Hwarin himself was feeling heated from this rare experience.

It felt like he had just gone through a particularly vivid wet dream.

Only after waking up did Shangguan Mijong realize that this wasn’t a dream. She thought she had been hugging Yong Hwarin and doing obscene things in her dream.

But when she looked around and saw so many people in the room, she convinced herself that she had merely done something indecent in her dreams alone.

“Hoo.”

Seeing Shangguan Mijong sigh, Yong Hwarin gave a bitter smile.

Sometimes, ignorance really was bliss.

As Yong Hwarin approached the woman in the center, Jegal Cheongyeong asked,

“Brother, are you planning to awaken that woman too?”

“Yes. If my guess is correct, this woman is most likely the daughter of the Demonic Master.”

“Really?”

“Yes, it’s said in Soho that the daughter of the Demonic Master is being held hostage by the Third Young Master and is working under him.”

“But why would they treat such an important hostage like this?”

“Because in order for Ihwa Fairy to complete the Moonlight Demonic Art, he needs this young lady’s Yin True Qi.”

Jegal Cheongyeong nodded at Yong Hwarin’s explanation.

“But how do you know all of this, Brother?”

Yong Hwarin suddenly realized that what he had just said might raise suspicions. However, he trusted that Jegal Cheongyeong, being a bright child, wouldn’t carelessly share such words with others.

“That’s…”

“You were going to say it’s all experience, weren’t you?”

Yong Hwarin shook his head.

“No, it’s because I’m smart.”

Jegal Cheongyeong let out a small laugh and dropped the matter, allowing Yong Hwarin to breathe a sigh of relief.

Finally, standing in front of the Demonic Master’s daughter, Yong Hwarin placed his right hand on her Crown Point and infused his qi.

‘Senior, what do you plan to do once your daughter awakens?’

Yong Hwarin asked, and the Demonic Master replied.

‘What else? You’ll have to take her with you.’

‘Me? That’s a bit troublesome. Can’t I just send her to that middle-aged senior?’

‘I don’t trust that guy.’

‘What? How can you not trust yourself?’

‘The fact that he let my daughter get taken means he’s compromised somehow. If you leave her with him, the same thing will happen again. It’s better if you take care of her for now.’

After awakening the Demonic Master’s daughter, Yong Hwarin turned to the others who were watching him and spoke.

“I’ll take some time to circulate my qi, so please wait.”

Although he possessed the cultivation of a Three Qi Practitioner, awakening the eight people by striking their Upper Dantians had consumed a considerable amount of internal energy.

Yong Hwarin intended to restore his internal energy since they might end up having to fight Ihwa Fairy and the warriors of Ihwa Palace.

While circulating his qi, Yong Hwarin’s eyes landed on the leather scroll tightly packed with hundreds of large needles brought by the White-Haired Crimson-Faced Monster.

Calling to the Demonic Master as he cultivated, he asked,

‘Senior, please teach me how to use concealed weapons.’

‘Why ask about concealed weapons all of a sudden?’

‘If you look over there, there are hundreds of large needles. What better concealed weapons could there be?’

‘Do you think martial arts can be created as easily as making candy just because you ask?’

‘Yes. You certainly have that ability, Senior.’

‘Tch, you’re becoming more of a fox by the day. Fine. But that means you now have only three of the five techniques I promised you left.’

Yong Hwarin smiled inwardly and responded,

‘That’s not right. I’m learning this to save your daughter. If we fail to escape this place, not just me but your daughter as well will end up in danger. She’ll likely have her Yin True Qi completely drained and die miserably.’

‘You little…’

‘Still cursing at me, Senior?’

‘I was about to call you a fox, not a dog.’

Since his daughter was involved, the Demonic Master couldn’t unleash his full anger on Yong Hwarin.

‘Calling someone a fox isn’t exactly cursing, unlike calling them a dog.’

After cursing half-heartedly, the Demonic Master let out a long sigh.

‘Fine. Since you and I are practically of one mind, there’s no point in being stingy over a martial art like this. I’ll teach you Flicking Finger Technique, which you can master quickly.’

‘I asked you to teach me how to use concealed weapons.’

‘Silence if you don’t understand! Do you think throwing concealed weapons by hand is all there is to it? Without imbuing qi into them, even a second-rate martial artist can block them easily. To pierce through first-rate martial artists, you need to imbue qi. But simply adding qi isn’t enough to harm masters. It lacks speed. Do you know what it takes to kill a master-level martial artist with concealed weapons?’

‘Imbue them with qi and throw them quickly.’

‘Correct. But since that isn’t easy, even Tang Clan warriors dedicate their lives to mastering concealed weapons. Also, ordinary steel needles can’t hold more than half a stage of qi, making them useless against higher-level opponents. Only concealed weapons made of special materials can contain enough qi to harm experts. Now, try imbuing qi into one of those large needles.’

Yong Hwarin picked up one of the large needles that had been stuck in the women’s heads and slowly infused qi into it.

‘Ho, this needle was specially made to communicate with souls through the Moonlight Demonic Art. It’s absorbing nearly one full stage of qi. This would be considered top-grade even by Tang Clan’s standards.’

‘So now, tell me how to use these.’

The Demonic Master, impressed by Yong Hwarin’s sharp thinking, felt more at ease entrusting his daughter to him. Yong Hwarin had realized the practicality of these needles as weapons without needing to be told.

‘There are several ways to increase the speed of concealed weapons, but in my opinion, flicking is the best. There was once a famous assassin known as Shadowless Phantom Killer. He invented the Three-Finger Flicking Technique, the most powerful method known in the assassin world.’

Yong Hwarin immediately responded after hearing the name of the technique.

‘It means flicking with three fingers simultaneously.’

‘That’s right. The basic principle of flicking techniques is to use the thumb to flick the index or middle finger. But Shadowless Phantom Killer flicked the index, middle, and ring fingers simultaneously, amplifying the qi several times over and greatly increasing the speed. No one ever survived his technique.’

‘I understand. There’s no time, so just teach me the incantation.’

Agreeing that time was short, the Demonic Master skipped the detailed explanation and immediately taught Yong Hwarin the incantation for the Three-Finger Flicking Technique.

Using his Divided Mind Technique, Yong Hwarin simultaneously circulated his qi and concentrated on understanding the incantation.

Just as he seemed to grasp it, the Demonic Master added,

‘There’s something I haven’t mentioned yet.’

‘What is it?’

‘Do you know why flicking techniques never became widespread in the martial world? Despite their surprising power, why do so few martial artists practice them? Flicking seems easy since all you do is release qi through your fingers, but why don’t many martial artists use it?’

‘You’re saying there’s a flaw in the technique?’

‘Exactly. Flicking techniques have a fatal flaw. To release qi through your fingers, you have to pull out all your fingernails. The qi in your fingers comes from the blood points under your nails. If your nails remain, they block the flow of qi, so the nails must be removed.’

‘If I lose my nails, wouldn’t I be unable to grip a sword?’

‘That’s why no one practices the flicking technique.’

‘So all this was pointless?’

Yong Hwarin protested, feeling like he had wasted his time since he would have chosen another concealed weapon technique had he known this earlier.

‘You’re not seriously telling me to pull out my nails, are you?’

‘I was actually hoping to see you do that, but I know you’re not the type.’

‘Good judgment, Senior. Otherwise, I might have left your daughter behind.’

‘Hahaha.’

Though the Demonic Master knew it was just a joke, it strangely sounded convincing.

‘You must have a way to overcome that flaw, don’t you?’

Yong Hwarin spoke almost like he was threatening, leaving the Demonic Master at a loss for words.

‘If it weren’t for my daughter… no, rather, for that younger version of me’s daughter…’

Still, no matter how he looked at it, she was his daughter.

For his daughter’s sake, giving up everything would not be enough.

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