Chapter 202

Half an hour. A full thirty minutes.

Even if my opponent was the Fire King, I’d thought that if I put everything I had into it, I could make him retreat a little—just a little.

At least, I had until a moment ago.

How does that make any sense?

I backed away, appalled.

He had caught a spearhead spinning with internal energy in his bare hand. That made about as much sense as sticking your hand into a grinder.

But when that hand belonged to Fire King Jeok Cheongang, things were different.

Drip. Hiss.

Steam rose as molten metal struck the ground. Jeok Cheongang clicked his tongue at the sight.

“Maybe it melted so quickly because it was scrap iron. You must have come into plenty of money this time, so tell them to use better iron.”

“H-How did you do that?”

“You can do it too.”

“Me?”

“Of course. Once you possess at least two jiazi’s worth of internal energy¹ and master our sect’s martial arts to their utmost limits.”

“……”

“Easy, right?”

As if.

When I stared at him in disbelief, Jeok Cheongang opened his mouth and let out a huge yawn.

“Taking it easy, aren’t you? If I were you, I’d spend that time swinging my spear one more time.”

“I was just about to.”

I glanced at the time limit floating in the air and pulled out another spear.

Sixteen minutes remained. Nearly half the time had already passed.

I only need to make him retreat one step. Just one step…

But that was easier said than done.

I glared at Jeok Cheongang, who still stood leisurely in the same spot, and drew a deep breath.

“Huuup—”

Whoosh!

I kicked off the ground and charged. One long stride erased the distance between us, and I thrust out my spear.

Screeeech!

The corners of Jeok Cheongang’s mouth rose as he watched me.

“I believe I said we were just getting started.”

Boom!

He stamped his foot once.

The effect was terrifying.

The ground shook as though an earthquake had struck, and a flock of birds perched on the bare branches took flight.

In the slowed-down world, Jeok Cheongang’s hand blurred for an instant and struck away dozens of stones floating in the air.

Straight toward me.

Shishishishik!

Dozens of stones, each propelled by internal energy. Every one of them was as deadly as a concealed weapon.

They must have carried even greater destructive power than the Head Elder’s finger-flicking technique I had faced in the past.

But…

I’ve grown stronger too.

Humm. Humm. Humm.

My spear let out a deep hum.

I felt a unity with it on an entirely different level from when I had still been First Rate.

The Jin Family’s Spear Technique, which had already reached Great Completion, and my footwork technique had merged into perfect harmony.

The insight I had gained from crossing the wall of the Peak realm flowed through them, revealing spear paths I could never have imagined before.

And then there were my increased stats.

I can do this.

Crack.

The spear shaft buckled beneath my crushing grip.

Then, in the next instant—

Whoooosh!

The power compressed like a spring exploded outward. Wind burst from the spearhead’s arc as I swung it sideways with all my strength.

It was internal energy unleashed—and a storm of my own making.

Pssshhh.

Fine dust scattered in every direction, the last remnants of the stones caught in the spear’s path.

“Well, look at you.”

The obstacle was gone. Now it was time to hit him.

I charged at Jeok Cheongang, whose expression was equal parts disbelief and delight.

Whoosh! Shishishishik!

The spearhead, brimming with internal energy, tore through the air.

Jeok Cheongang dipped lightly at the waist to evade it. At the same time, heat surged from his right hand.

Whoom!

Blazing flames shot toward me—a mass of condensed Scorching Yang Qi.

I gritted my teeth and swung the spear shaft.

Clang! Krrrra-boom!

A deafening roar erupted, and tremendous force and heat engulfed my entire body. Jeok Cheongang burst into laughter at the sight of me standing there, charred black from head to toe.

“What kind of idiot tries to knock that away?”

“……Hah. I almost had it.”

“Don’t make me laugh. If this old man had used his full strength, you would have died just now.”

I answered sullenly.

“I knocked it away because I thought I could.”

“And that’s why you look like that?”

“……I didn’t know this would happen.”

“I’ll give you credit for staying on your feet—and for actually blocking it.”

“But weren’t you only supposed to defend?”

“Who told you that?”

Damn. Come to think of it, he hadn’t.

I ripped off my half-charred shirt and tossed it aside.

“For someone bearing the mighty title of Fire King, aren’t you using a little too much force against a kid young enough to be your grandson?”

“You’re still wet behind the ears, yet you swing a spear at an old man old enough to be your great-grandfather? And you call yourself the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi?”

“You’re a Supreme Peak master, Old Master!”

“You possess the Heavenly Martial Physique.”

“Do you seriously call that mal?”

“If it isn’t mal—words—then is it a foal?”²

“……”

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Grind.

My hand tightened around the spear. I let out a hot breath.

“Hoo. Now I’m going to do this properly.”

Jeok Cheongang dug inside his ear with his pinky.

“Hm? What was that? I can’t hear a weakling who got turned into charcoal with one hit.”

“……”

God, I hated this.

When he’d been tearing apart the Roaring Fury Swordsman, his banter had been the most satisfying thing in the world. Now that I was on the receiving end, it made my stomach turn.

“What are you going to do if I really make you retreat even one step?”

“It would be faster for the Heavenly Demon to become the Abbot of Shaolin.”

“Grrk.”

“You should only have enough time left to drink a glass of cold water. Do you think you can make this old man retreat before then? Not a chance.”

Jeok Cheongang was telling the truth. Barely three minutes remained.

Judging by how our fight had gone so far, failing the Quest was practically a foregone conclusion.

But I still had one trump card I hadn’t shown him.

I continued the conversation as naturally as I could.

“You’re really going to regret saying that.”

“What do I have to regret? I only wanted to see how skilled you were in the first place. Still, you show some promise, so if you continue to work hard…”

“That’s a shame.”

“Hm?”

I heaved a deliberate sigh at the puzzled Jeok Cheongang, pretending to be genuinely disappointed.

“If you didn’t attack at all and only defended, I could succeed easily… But I suppose that wasn’t one of the conditions.”

“If this old man only defended, you could make me retreat?”

Jeok Cheongang’s eyes flashed. Competitive pride, perhaps, or curiosity.

I couldn’t tell exactly what emotion lay in his gaze, but one thing was certain: he had taken the bait halfway.

I waved a hand as though I hadn’t noticed.

“No. Forget you heard that. If I succeeded, wouldn’t it damage your reputation?”

That sealed it.

“……Look at this brat.”

Jeok Cheongang’s cheek twitched, his expression difficult to describe. Finally, he nodded.

“I can see straight through your little scheme, but fine. Go ahead and try.”

“You mean it?”

“Haven’t you heard that the Fire King’s word is worth a thousand pieces of gold? Once this old man says something, he always keeps his word.”

“……Ah. Yes.”

He’d even changed the first word and plagiarized the proverb.

Either way, I’d achieved what I wanted. I discarded the half-charred spear and pulled out my third one.

This one will probably be single-use too.

But if that was the price of completing a Peak-Grade Quest, it was absurdly cheap.

Jeok Cheongang narrowed his eyes as I adjusted my stance.

“You aren’t planning to use poison or some underhanded trick, are you?”

“Come on. Of course not.”

I grinned and added,

“A man settles things with one big blow.”

Gooooong.

The spear shaft trembled after swallowing forty-five years of internal energy.

Kraaaaaash!

A massive boulder went flying, and a tree as thick as a man was torn up by the roots.

Jeok Cheongang stood tall at the center of the clearing, which looked as though a storm had just swept through it.

He had been driven back exactly five steps.

“You—you…”

Looking half-dazed, Jeok Cheongang stared back and forth between me and the devastated surroundings.

The beautiful wilderness from moments ago had become a grotesque landscape of broken and uprooted trees and displaced boulders.

All of it was the result of a single thrust—One Annihilation.

“W-What in the world did you do?”

“Well, I’m not sure. I didn’t expect it to be this powerful either.”

It was the first time I’d used One Annihilation since reaching the Peak realm.

I’d expected its destructive power to have increased now that my internal energy had grown by leaps and bounds, but I hadn’t imagined anything like this.

Jeok Cheongang shouted at my uncertain answer.

“You think that makes any sense?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Wow, this is seriously insa—”

The world spun before my eyes, and my legs buckled.

I had poured out every last shred of strength and internal energy without leaving so much as a speck behind.

A wrinkled hand caught me as I staggered. The gaze of the man looking down at me was impossibly complex.

“I’ll hear the whole story later. Rest for now.”

As he spoke, powerful energy flowed into me through my back. It had to be internal energy that Jeok Cheongang was channeling into me.

I’d expected it to be scorching, like swallowing the sun, but his internal energy was warm and vast.

Its gentle warmth brought on an irresistible wave of drowsiness.

“O-Old Master.”

“Don’t resist. Let yourself go.”

“……Right?”

“Hm?”

“I really won, right?”

“……!”

Jeok Cheongang’s eyelids trembled. At last, he answered in a hoarse voice.

“Yes. This old man lost.”

“Heh heh heh.”

A laugh escaped me before I could stop it.

Even though the fight had been subject to countless restrictions, I was filled with joy at having made Jeok Cheongang—a master counted among the greatest under heaven—retreat.

Ding.

System

Quest One Step Back was completed successfully!

Quest reward…

The fading sound of the System notification was the last thing I heard before falling into a deep sleep.

That boy. He certainly sleeps well.

Jeok Cheongang stared silently at the dead-asleep Jin Taekyung for a long while.

His strong, open features made him look like an innocent boy, yet also like a young man who had already weathered the world once over.

What a strange boy. What a strange boy indeed.

The longer Jeok Cheongang watched him, the stronger that impression became.

He had thought he’d already peeled away one layer of the boy’s shell, only to discover even harder, more dazzling scales hidden beneath it.

A Hidden Dragon.

This young man, sleeping so peacefully that he was even snoring, was a dragon that had yet to obtain its dragon pearl.³

That only made Jeok Cheongang more curious. How far would Jin Taekyung go? Would he live long enough to see the boy’s true limits?

Especially that final strike…

Jeok Cheongang looked around once more and let out a hollow laugh.

Could this really be the work of a young prodigy who had only just passed twenty?

He was certain that even the Sword Saint of years past had not been capable of this much.

The Martial God. Perhaps he could have done it.

A martial artist born human, yet called a god. The one person who had ever inspired awe in Fire King Jeok Cheongang.

What had he been like in his youth—the man revered not merely as the greatest under heaven, but as the greatest of all time?

As Jeok Cheongang imagined Jin Taekyung as he was now alongside the Martial God in his youth, a quiet laugh escaped him.

For this old man to entertain such a thought… The boy’s talent must truly be great enough to compare with the Martial God’s.

Jeok Cheongang gazed deeply at Jin Taekyung, then rose to his feet.

By now, a desire was rapidly taking root within him—the desire to place a dragon pearl³ in the hands of this young Hidden Dragon.

Fly freely above the clouds. Become a Heavenly Dragon capable of covering the world with rain and wind.

Grrrrrk.

At the snore that came instead of an answer, Jeok Cheongang burst into hearty laughter.