Episode 209
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“There’s nothing in particular yet.”
“You don’t necessarily have to take on the task of visiting palace executives and persuading them on your own. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to share the work with your companions in order to shorten the period of stay here?”
I cursed inwardly.
From which mouth could a sound like that come out?
‘Even though I warned you not to make provocative comments in front of Mu Jin-cheon, you still caused an accident.’
It was fortunate that Mu Jin-cheon was generous, but if he had a hot-tempered personality, it would not have been surprising if a fight had broken out.
As others may not have known, the negotiation-related work could not be entrusted to just Hwang Bo-kyung.
Basically, there is an ingrained attitude of looking down on the people of southern Manchuria, calling them barbarians.
“As I said before, situations where the delegation gets involved with important figures in the Beast Palace should be avoided as much as possible. “The number of people we need to persuade has increased, but it would be better to minimize the number of people in contact with them.”
“······.”
“A lot of things have already deviated from what was planned. There is no benefit to increasing the variable any further than this. “Please leave this matter to me for now.”
“I understand. “You look tired. Go in and rest.”
“yes.”
Persuade Hwang Bo-kyung with a plausible excuse.
After entering the building, I immediately washed my body in the bathroom and changed my clothes.
‘Maybe I overdid it a bit.’
I was quite tired because I had been dancing a lot in Confucius’ personal training hall.
He was moving across the hallway, massaging his shoulder with his left hand.
A woman appeared across from me and stopped in place.
It was Tang Seoyeon.
“······.”
I greeted her with an awkward expression and then exchanged light conversation.
Even though I didn’t tell her, she knew that I was participating in the dance competition hosted by the Beast Palace.
I thought I heard the story from Dang Sang-jin.
‘Well, unlike Hwang Bo-kyung, she can be trusted.’
When I heard that Prince Shi had volunteered to become an ally, Tang Seo-yeon’s face showed surprise.
It seemed like he never thought that Gongja, who was none other than someone else, would reach out first.
“There is one thing I would like to ask Sozer.”
“Are you asking me a favor?”
“Could you be my practice partner before the competition?”
There was one thing that I learned through the conversation with Confucius.
Woo Hwa-yeon, the fifth child of Prince Yasu, was the maternal granddaughter of Lord Dokgok.
In other words, there was a very high possibility that Dokgok’s elite would participate in the dance competition taking place a month later.
No matter how much I achieved imperviousness to poison, I couldn’t help but feel alarmed if the opponent was an assassin of poison.
Just because it was immortal, it didn’t mean it was immune to all poisons.
Even the country could not withstand extreme poisoning of vision, such as the poison of the seven souls of the Tang family.
‘It is known that Dokgok’s knowledge of poison and poison is comparable to that of Tangga.’
It wasn’t that my confidence had diminished.
I was able to say with certainty that, except for the Left Protector who assisted the Lord of the Beast Palace and the Lord of Dokgok, there was no one among the warriors of the Nanman who could do anything to me.
However, we always had to keep in mind the possibility of unexpected variables occurring.
Poison was a tool that, if used well, could overturn even a slight skill gap.
‘We must also be wary of accumulating damage in the process of fighting consecutive wars.’
The female martial arts competition hosted by the Beast Palace was completely different in nature from the Yongbong branch.
The use of extreme poison and intentional murder.
We had to be careful as it was a cruel event in which most acts were generally tolerated.
If you rely only on your own inaction and let your guard down, you could end up missing a goal.
Moreover, it was not only the enemies of Yangji (陽地) that had to be guarded against.
There was no guarantee that the fight would only take place within the venue.
No one would touch me until the competition was held, but once the competition started, the heads of each faction would reach out to me in earnest.
‘It may be unlikely, but Dokgok’s assassins may swarm and attack.’
This was the reason why I asked Seoyeon Tang for help.
To conduct mock training assuming a situation of being attacked by Dokgok’s assassins.
Tang Seoyeon, a direct blood relative of the Tang family, would have been a good practice partner.
I was planning to make the same request to not only Dang Seo-yeon but also Dang Sang-jin soon.
“All right. “If that’s the reason, I’ll be happy to join you.”
After listening to all the explanations, Seo-yeon Tang nodded her head.
I thanked her with a smiling face.
* * *
After breaking up with Seo-yeon Tang and entering my private quarters, I threw myself on the bed with a groan.
“······.”
I stared blankly up at the ceiling for a while.
I took out a small wooden box from my pocket and lifted it up to my face.
A rattling noise penetrated my ears.
‘Now might be the right time.’
It was a box containing Gongcheongseokyu (空淸石乳), which had previously been given as a gift in return for treating Jang Mun-in of the Jeomchang Sect.
I didn’t have time to leisurely absorb the spiritual energy, so I kept carrying it with me, but now that I had some free time, I thought I should consume it in advance.
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I woke up with a groan and asked Damun in the next room to stand guard with a jeonum.
He then sat cross-legged on the bed and took out a small bottle from the wooden box.
wickedness!
Holding the bottle with my right hand, I gently rubbed the sealed part with my left index finger.
The cap of the bottle was smoothly cut off, and a fishy scent filled the room.
I didn’t want to lose even a single ounce of energy, so I immediately poured the milky liquid into my mouth.
A burning sensation, as if on fire, started from the nape of my neck and spread throughout my body.
It was a sensation I had felt once before, in Chief Lee’s training room.
He immediately began the work of using the White Thunder Divine Technique to embody the energy of the elixir.
The energy circulating along the blood vessels greedily absorbed the earth energy contained in the Gongcheong Petroleum and grew in size.
‘The endurance you can gain is approximately 40 years’ worth. Considering the characteristics of Baekrei Shingong, it would be possible to improve the inner power for twenty years.’
Among the elixirs I had ever consumed, it was the one that contained the most spiritual energy.
I felt a sense of anticipation.
‘If you think about it, the total amount of internal energy I had in my previous life was this Gapja (甲子).’
If you combine the energy that I could not yet embody, it was a blessing, but since it was energy that I could not use properly anyway, let’s leave that aside.
‘I finally caught up.’
Currently, a hundred years worth of energy was contained within my Danjeon.
Demon God Altar, Cheondok Altar, Summon Altar, Gongcheongseokyu, Plum Blossom God Altar, and even the inner altar of Hwari. .
This was achieved by consuming all kinds of elixirs.
The process of adding 20 years of experience to the 100 years of experience continued for a long time.
I forgot about time and fell into a state of no-self, immersing myself in fortune-telling.
When I finished replacing spiritual energy with internal energy and opened my eyes, the sun was already rising outside the window.
I let out a long sigh and got up from my seat.
A smile was drawn on my face as I felt a heavy feeling in my lower abdomen.
I felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
‘I can’t even guess now.’
Suddenly, a curiosity arose.
At present, how much has the efficiency of Baekrei Shingong’s internal strength accumulation increased?
The inner energy accumulated through Baekrei Shingong had the property of attracting the surrounding energy.
Baekrei Shingong was a mental technique that had the characteristic of increasing the efficiency of accumulation through cloud as the total amount of inner energy contained in the Danjeon increased.
If we were to compare it to the rate of interest in the field of battle, it could be said that the ordinary inner gongsim method was calculated as simple interest, and the white lightning method was calculated as compound interest.
Dokgo Woo-jin said that Baekroe Shin-gong, operated by someone with a level of inner strength, is as effective as the spiritual techniques of the Nine Daemun Sect or the Five Great Families.
That’s enough for just one burst, but what about this sudden burst of strength?
‘If you practice for ten years, you will be able to see even the sonic ghost, which is a walking lump of smoke, beneath your feet.’
Laughs flowed out.
Once again, I was able to realize the deceitfulness of Baekrei Shingong.
This was the driving force that enabled Dokgo Woojin to reign as the god of death on the battlefield in his past life.
‘I guess taking elixirs doesn’t mean much anymore.’
I stretched and muttered to myself.
They say that the more you have, the better it is, but I thought there was no need to be greedy any more.
Even so, the internal energy accumulated by using the White Lightning Divine Technique had a high density, so the consumption efficiency was superior to that of general energy.
At this level, it would be safe to assume that at least there would be no shortage of internal strength during the battle.
‘Increasing your energy capacity with elixirs beyond this is an overindulgence. From then on, it will be enough to just practice meditation normally and steadily. Considering the nature of the White Thunder Godkung, which reduces the effectiveness of the elixir taken by half, it would be better to look for other ways to use the elixir rather than consuming it directly.’
For example, it can be used to improve the martial arts of subordinates.
Suddenly, a conversation I had with Dokgo Woojin in the past passed through my mind.
[By the way, he said he had no intention of taking on a disciple, but now that he has a disciple, he gives me the elixir as if he was waiting for it.]
[······.]
[Actually, wasn’t it that you couldn’t let go of your regrets?]
[I just gave it to you because I had nothing to use.]
At the time, I thought Dokgo Woojin was embarrassed and was making excuses that didn’t work.
But now that I look at it, I realize that his words, ‘I left it behind because I had no use for it’ may have been true.
I shook my head to shake off my thoughts and opened the door.
I sweated a lot in the process of absorbing the elixir.
I felt like I needed to wash my body again before I closed my eyes.
“······.”
The image of Damun looking back with a blank expression came into view.
Looking at his tired appearance, I felt somewhat sorry.
“Thank you for your effort. “It must be hard, but you can go back and rest now.”
“······Please at least tell me in advance. “I was quite taken aback when he suddenly asked me to protect the law.”
“All right.”
* * *
“Really?”
“It’s true.”
The woman, Woo Hwayeon, smiled bitterly and put her drink down on the table.
I immediately picked up the bottle and filled her glass.
Confucius No. 4, Confucius No. 1, and Confucius Lee met in turn.
And as promised, I visited Woo Hwayeon’s residence next.
“I want to see it with my own eyes at least once. “I can’t believe such a big lake exists.”
“If Sojeo visits Jungwon someday, I will personally guide you.”
“You must keep that promise.”
Confucius advised me to form an alliance.
Prince I and Prince Lee each tried to threaten and cajole me.
On the other hand, Woo Hwayeon just asked me various questions.
Even the types of questions were not about me or the delegation, but about tourist attractions in various parts of the Central Plains.
It was like looking at an innocent child who had no interest in politics or anything like that.
‘What on earth is this plan?’
martial arts,
