Chapter 170 – The Wrong Path (2)

*White Light Demonic Martial Arts Skill Table*

[Heavenly Detention Ice Fire Storm]: → ← ↑ ↓ ↕ ↓ ↑ ↓ A or B

As one levels up, they gain a unique skill.
Seol-Hwi now paid attention to this one.

Basically, this wasn’t difficult.
However, there was a pattern which he had never seen displayed there.

Up and down at the same time?

What did this mean?

It was impossible to do up and down at the same time from the head.
Fortunately there was a way to use this complicated skill.

It would be by using the special shoes.

If he took them off and put them on, he could erase any one movement, and Seol-Hwi was quick to take out the ‘↕’.

And again, he followed what the table showed.

Swish!

This is…

In an instant it felt like the falling water drops began to slow down.
Seol-Hwi saw that and realized that the skill was activated.

Possibly it was Supreme Low Temperature Ice.

It seemed that the time bond, which was previously a unique ability, was partially added into the new skill.

Saaa!

The fine energy that began to form from his body was stable.

Without much thought, Seol-Hwi drew the attack into the air.

And—

Kwaaang!

“…!”

The air that came into contact with it turned to ice, and then heat spread, causing an explosion.

This was beyond what he had imagined.

“Surprising.
Freezing something and then blowing it up…”

The range of the explosion wasn’t that great, but those hit by it would surely take a great deal of damage.

The combination of ice and fire always brought good results.

Just whipping the sword would hurt the skin and swell the body, and if one does that to frozen flesh, then a chunk of it would fall off.

“Next.”

Seol-Hwi’s attention turned to the next one.

*Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts Skill Table*

[Martial Supreme Peak Wind God]: → N(neutral)↓↘, A <100 speed>

“H-hundred…?”

Seol-Hwi was shocked.

This meant that he would have to move the body four times faster than the previous skill.

“Should I try it?’

Fortunately, since his body had also changed over time, this was something he could try out.

Seol-Hwi took off and put on the shoes to remove “neutral” and then began to perform the actions.

Once.

And again.

After trying several times in succession, Seol-Hwi sighed.

“This isn’t happening…”

Moving at 100x speed—

It was not something easy to do, and even if he tried to imitate what was on the table, it did not seem like he could perform it successfully regardless.

“Right.”

Seol-Hwi who thought for a while raised his internal energy.

If this wasn’t possible with physical strength, then it was intended to be unleashed with the help of internal energy.

Shhh

As the energy gathered, Seol-Hwi began to concentrate and soon leaned forward as he brandished his sword.

And he succeeded this time.

Shshs!

The first thing that could be seen was the lightning.

Intense lightning shot ahead, followed by a black storm.
Even though this was an empty space, the shock still spread to the body of Seol-Hwi.

Kwang!

And it exploded like a clap.

If this directly hit the opponent, then no defense would work.
Immediately after the explosion, countless streaks of lightning spread out in all directions, tearing everything apart.

“Amazing.”

Even though this wasn’t his first time seeing this, Seol-Hwi could only be in awe of it.
With this power, it seemed like he really could take down someone on the level of Supreme Demon.

“Then…”

Now that he looked at two skills, there was one left.

The annihilation one.

The name itself reminded him more of hellfire.

Basically it was a skill which would come under flame arts of using the yang qi, so it was not technically different from hellfire.

It was Annihilation of All Things.

But there was a problem here, it had another unusual action to be executed.

*Flame Aggregating Demonic Martial Arts Skill Table*

[Annihilation of All Things]: ↔ ↕ ↔ ↘ ↘ ↘ ↗ A or B

“Ah…”

Moreover, this time there were too many rather than just one.

There was a shape that moved left and right, and one that moved up and down.

This was not something Seol-Hwi understood at all.

Papa!

He tried it, but he couldn’t grasp what it meant.

He continued to experiment several times, even hundreds of times, but there was so sign of triggering the skill.
It seemed like this was not something that could be learned in a short amount of time, so he gave up.

“Well, to what extent I am… I don’t think I am at Supreme Demon…”

It was said that if one touched the Supreme Demon level or Supreme Master, they underwent a change in the body.

They would begin to feel a completely unique flow of energy in the world, but Seol-Hwi couldn’t feel any such thing.

Then that meant he was at Peak Demon.

“Then tomorrow…”

Seol-Hwi turned around.

He couldn’t sense anyone around, but there were traces of people who had been here.

Maybe it was Seo Saeng.
It seemed like he had returned after seeing him train.

And tomorrow will be the day the mission is given.

After coming down the cliff, Seol-Hwi walked around the hall.

Normally, he should be in the room resting for tomorrow’s mission, but he couldn’t do it.

Lying down felt like a chore, so it felt better to cultivate and remove the tension built up in his body.

Seol-Hwi had been walking around for a while and remembered the thing the AI spoke of.

“I thought that…”

A warrior in the sect who has been in closed training and was ranked at 60 for his martial arts—

According to Seo Saeng, he was known to be a skilled martial artist, had a hand which could pierce through anything, and had the body to perform the Martial Godly Hand.

After reaching the highest point of Peak Demon, it was mentioned that he said “I can see it” and then disappeared.
It was assumed that he would come out only when he achieved a certain level of growth.

At that time, this was something he just heard and read, but now he felt like he was formidable.

“A warrior who goes into closed training to reach Supreme… Can I beat him?”

At the words of the AI, he said the current skills were hard to gain.

And since he has the special skills now, he knew that he could truly go against even an established warrior in the sect.

But… Where do I find him?

Even if he was sure of the result, he was not sure of where the person was.
The AI said that fighting would help, and he wanted to do it, but right now Seol-Hwi didn’t have many lives.

And if he got into trouble…

Swish!

Uh?

He heard the sound of a sword moving and followed the sound to see Yong Jin swinging his sword.

Seol-Hwi watched him for a while and then approached him.

“What is happening?”

“Captain.”

Yong Jin had an awkward smile.
Then, he looked at the calm face and said,

“It is because I haven’t felt an improvement in my skills, not as much as I wanted.”

“Right.
Do you know where the problem is?”

“That… I don’t know.”

Seol-Hwi nodded as he looked at the sword and continued.

“Would you like to swing one more time?”

“…Yes.”

When he said he would provide guidance, Yong Jin took up the sword again with a happy face and he executed the martial arts he could perform the best.

“Ha! Ha!”

One by one, he ended up showing all the forms and then took a deep breath.

“What kind of martial arts is that?”

“Black Lightning Demonic Arts.”

“Who taught you that?”

“It was from a trainer called Soo, and it was before coming here.”

“Ah, right, you were in a different group before this, right?”

“Yes.”

Originally those with outstanding abilities were given better chances.
Among them, there were three groups Seol-Hwi didn’t know of.

In addition to the martial arts which the Hidden Truth Corps provided, the members originally had other groups.
And among them, Yong Jin used Black Lightning Demonic Arts.

It was an improved version of Purple Lightning Demonic Arts.

Seol-Hwi knew these martial arts originated from one another.

He knew it held a strong force, but it was difficult to learn, so it had been improved to be more comfortable to use and easier to get results.

Even so, it had the core aspects of Purple Lightning Martial Arts, so it wasn’t weak.

“Looking at it roughly, there is no problem with the technique but the way of using it seems unfamiliar.”

“Uh… it isn’t easy even though I have been training for a long time.”

“I see.
No one taught me how to breathe.”

“Breathe… uh?”

“The first form of martial arts.
The second form.
There is a purpose that has been passed on to everything.
You probably know that the techniques and forms are there for a purpose.
However, in order to truly understand a martial art, the breathing method has to be in accordance with the technique.”

Clack!

Seol-Hwi took out the knife and he attempted what he saw a moment back.

Swish!

The knife moved as if it was scratching the floor and leaped straight ahead exactly how he saw it.

He stepped back, raised the knife diagonally, and even finished the action by turning his feet.

“Did you feel anything?”

“Ah…”

At Seol-Hwi’s question, he opened his mouth.

The actions were the same, but the flow felt smoother.

It was different, but it was hard to tell exactly what the difference was.

“It is said that people hold their breath when using forms, right? To be precise, it is to breathe out little by little.
It is roughly the amount of taking a small inhale.”

“That… is the first time I am hearing about such a thing.
What is the reason?”

“Relaxation.
When the opponent’s attack comes in, you have to concentrate on your strength.
That way, the movements will be more natural.”

“Ah, thank you… thank you, Captain!”

Yong Jin bowed his head.

What he heard now wasn’t some form of secret to perfect martial arts execution.
It was just the desire of Seol-Hwi to teach and nothing more, and if it was his subordinate, he had to give something.

“You will realize when the time comes.”

Seol-Hwi was embarassed.

Originally, if one was under a unit, it felt like this was something one had to do right away.

In the meantime, there was an aspect that Seol-Hwi received a higher evaluation than the real thing by making use of the special skills, not martial arts.

However, as he gained experience through battles, he managed to step into the path of helping his men.

“When I am with the captain, I feel so reassured.
I don’t think I will ever die.”

“Not at all.
A secret mission is always a step closer to death than others,”

Seol-Hwi said as he touched Yong Jin on the shoulder.

“You did well.”

“Yes!”

When Yong Jin’s energetic answer came back, his heart felt a little relieved.

The next day—

After hearing about the mission, Seol-Hwi made up his mind.

Let us go for the special skill, Martial Supreme Peak Wind God and Heavenly Detention Ice Fire Storm can be used.

Compared to the past, three special skills were available now, but Annihilation was something he could not use yet.

So, he had two things, and he knew that Martial Supreme Peak Wind God would be easier to use.

“You are here?”

“Captain!’

When he went out, the members were waiting and he saw Ma Taryong who had hardly appeared for a month or so.

“Now, everyone must have heard about the mission, so everyone take good care of your weapons.”

“Yes!”

Seol-Hwi asked them,

“We don’t have to move together right?”

“Yes.
That won’t be good.”

Ma Taryong bowed and hurriedly moved away, the same as in the past.

“Now, we move…”

Seol-Hwi took turns and glanced at everyone, and he hesitated looking at Seo Ryeong.

Suddenly he thought,

Right.
How about life? It cannot be just deaths coming right?

As the turn based system had vanished, he couldn’t see how many lives he had.

Seol-Hwi remembered the

If he and Seo Ryeong fell in love, then he might get 3 lives.

That was something he saw sure of.

“Captain? Anything to relay?”

Seo Ryeong asked him.

Ah!

Hesitating for a second, Seol-Hwi soon made up his mind.

Just once.
Even if it fails, wouldn’t it be worth it?

If he succeeds, then he would get three lives for free.

Even if he fails, there was no danger and he could just say he was teasing her.

As Seol-Hwi approached Seo Ryeong, the crew began to ask,

“What are you doing?”

“Hmm?”

While watching Seol-Hwi, intently they all wondered what order would come when he instead said,

“I love you.”

“…”

“I love you, Seo Ryeong.”

Silence fell as this was not something they had expected, and all their faces turned stiff.

“…”

“…”

Yorim was scared and Yong Jin shocked.

“…Uh.”

“…Um.”

Jeok Song frowned and Imugi’s whole body trembled.

And lastly,

“Sigh.”

Songhwa shook his head.
At that moment, the situation looked flagged.

Do they hate it?

Seol-Hwi was so focused on this task that he didn’t seem to care about anything else.

Seo Ryeong wasn’t mad, nor did she reject him.

She just stared at him.

Shh!

She even closed her eyes

This is acceptance right?

This gave him some confidence, but he didn’t have experience.
Maybe this was what he needed?

“I have been watching you for a long time, this is my sincere…”

When he stepped ahead to talk—

Slap!

His vision moved to the side and what followed was a slap from Seo Ryeong.

“Fucking pervert.”

“…”

Ku.
Puah!

—a groan of pain and breath.

Following the slap and the vicious words which came next, Seol-Hwi immediately turned around and shouted.

“T-the Supreme Pavilion isn’t far from here! Move quickly and don’t be left behind!”

Tak!

And he quickly moved.

He didn’t even look back as he didn’t want to see the laughing faces of his subordinates.