Chapter 986

Truth be told, I’d had some idea from the start.

Jeok Cheongang’s expression and tone were nothing like usual. Grief lay beneath his low, subdued voice—something the giant known as the Fire King rarely let anyone see.

But…

As always, a bad feeling never misses.

“You’ve arrived.”

The first person to greet us was the Medicine King Hall Master, who had been standing guard at the door.

As he picked up his bundle and prepared to leave, Jeok Cheongang spoke quietly.

“As I asked, please don’t tell anyone.”

“…”

“Thank you. You’re an excellent physician.”

The Medicine King Hall Master bowed his head slightly without a word and left. Only then could we face the man waiting inside.

“Oh, you brought him sooner than I expected. That old man’s legs are so short, I figured it’d take another seven days and nights.”

Another giant had regained consciousness after several days.

I watched the Thunderbolt Saber King laugh heartily at his own joke. Only when Jeok Cheongang nudged my shoulder did I belatedly clasp my hands in a salute, showing him all the respect I could.

“I am Jin Taekyung, a humble junior of Murim. It’s an honor to meet you, Great Hero Peng.”

“Enough. Too much humility can be its own poison. If you’re a humble junior, are all the other juniors in the world dead?”

The Thunderbolt Saber King smiled at me with satisfaction, then turned to Jeok Cheongang.

“Now that I’ve seen him, I’d say you were complaining for nothing. You kept telling me he ran wilder every day, like a brat with no respect for his elders.”

“Friend, my ass. You’ve got a lot of nerve talking to someone so much older than you like that.”

Jeok Cheongang tried to sound as gruff as ever, but he couldn’t hide the heaviness in his eyes.

Whether the Thunderbolt Saber King noticed or not, he laughed even louder.

“Wahaha! What are you so sore about? We’re both getting old.”

“Don’t you know the Three Bonds and Five Relationships¹? Never heard of respect for elders?”

“Would knowing them get someone to feed me? Or make my martial arts stronger?”

“Forget it. I’m the fool for trying to discuss this with an ignorant Peng.”

“Admitting your own shortcomings. I like it. I was just getting tired of talking to a stinky old man, so this works out nicely. Don’t you agree?”

At the Thunderbolt Saber King’s offhand question, I nodded.

“Well, my Master is a little old.”

“What did you say? Hahaha!”

A booming laugh rang out.

It didn’t suit the Thunderbolt Saber King’s pallid face. It was so loud it sounded forced.

No. It probably was forced.

What you could see with your eyes wasn’t everything. I could feel it.

Even now, the qi within the Thunderbolt Saber King wavered precariously, like a glass vessel cracked all over.

Like a flame that could go out at any moment.

“I heard you wanted to see me.”

At my somber words, the Thunderbolt Saber King seemed to realize I’d noticed his condition. He spoke with a smile still on his face.

“Perceptive, aren’t you? You’re worlds apart from the last time I saw you. The Fire King may not be good at much else, but he’s raised his Disciple well.”

“…”

“No need to look so miserable. For martial artists like us, life and death come with the territory.”

He was right.

That was the life of a martial artist.

The Thunderbolt Saber King had spent his life making his way through a mountain of sabers and a forest of swords, past countless threats and schemes. Now he accepted what lay ahead with calm composure.

“I had a very long dream. In it, I looked back on my whole life. I even saw my friend Murong Baek as a young man again, for the first time in ages.”

“Friend, my ass. That bastard deserved to die.”

The Thunderbolt Saber King let out a quiet laugh at Jeok Cheongang’s remark and continued.

“That’s all in the past. Nothing to be done about it now. No use trying to gather up spilled water. In the end, we stopped Dark Heaven’s plot and saved more people. That’s enough for me.”

He was famous for a temper as fiery as Jeok Cheongang’s, yet he looked at me with eyes as still as a pond.

“When I first saw you at the Star-Array Grand Banquet, I had a feeling you’d accomplish great things before long. We could all tell you’d become a pillar of the world, protecting it alongside the Sword Saint’s Disciple.”

Of course, I’d been inexperienced back then.

I couldn’t stand shoulder to shoulder with so many powerful masters the way I could now. The monster known as the Blood Lord had crushed me.

“But no one expected you to grow so much, so quickly.”

The threats to my life had come one after another, each greater than the last, and I’d grown at a staggering pace because of them.

Fast enough to make even those who’d watched me most closely doubt their eyes.

“That’s why I asked for you right away. This is my last chance to put the little time and energy I have left to the best possible use.”

“…You mean…”

“They say an ordinary tiger leaves its hide behind when it dies. The great tiger of Hebei will be different.”

At the Thunderbolt Saber King’s faint smile, I finally understood why he’d asked to see me before his own flesh and blood. He had barely regained consciousness, and death was already at his door.

“Take it. Everything I have left.”

The moment his calm voice rang out—

Ding.

System

An emergency Quest, Transmitting Internal Energy Across the Body, has been created.

!!Warning, warning!!

This Quest carries extreme risk.

Do you accept the emergency Quest?

Y / N

Through the holographic window that had appeared with the clear chime, I stared silently at the Thunderbolt Saber King’s smiling face.

Then, all at once, I spoke.

“Why… Why did you choose me?”

His answer came without the slightest hesitation.

“Because I believe in you.”

“…!”

“And I’m not the only one. The Dharma King believes in you. Your Master believes in you. Now the whole world believes in you.”

I could hardly breathe.

My heart tightened, and my blood seemed to surge through my veins.

Through it all, the Thunderbolt Saber King’s voice reached me clearly.

“This is all for the world, not for you. Do you need any other reason?”

“No.”

I took a small, steadying breath and continued.

“That’s reason enough.”

A smile crossed the Thunderbolt Saber King’s pallid face.

“Sit in the lotus position.”

Ding.

System

You have accepted the emergency Quest, Transmitting Internal Energy Across the Body!

Internal energy was an intangible force that existed everywhere in the world.

Those who practiced martial arts accumulated it within their bodies. Through grueling training, they strengthened body and mind, hoping to step beyond human limits into the realm of the superhuman.

But not everyone wanted that kind of power.

The more energy they accumulated, the greater the backlash it could bring.

If someone tried to circulate their internal energy recklessly by following an incorrect formula, they were likely to end up crippled. And without enlightenment, many fell into a heart demon² and became half-mad.

Even so, martial artists’ desire to reach ever higher realms rarely faded.

Theirs was a world ruled by the law of the jungle.

They devised all kinds of ways to grow stronger more safely and quickly. In the process, they discovered one astonishing method.

What if, instead of spending years accumulating internal energy, you received someone else’s in its entirety?

Inherit the power of an old master on the verge of death? Huh? Isn’t that basically rock honey³?

That was how Transmitting Internal Energy Across the Body came into being in the distant past.

And from the moment it did, it became a taboo—something never to be attempted.

The reason was simple.

It looked sweet on the surface, but in reality, it was a double-edged sword.

No, even calling it that was laughable. Failures overwhelmingly outnumbered successes.

“M-Master!”

“No!”

People died. And died. And died again.

Even those lucky enough to survive often ended up crippled, their qi and blood tangled within them, or could never regain their former martial prowess. The attempts cost the world Supreme Peak masters who had dominated their eras, along with gifted young prodigies.

So when the Thunderbolt Saber King told Jin Taekyung he intended to transmit his internal energy to him, Jeok Cheongang could only ask in disbelief:

“Have you gone mad?”

“Not at all.”

“No, you’re definitely mad. Normally, you’d be flying into a rage by now.”

“I’ve only been awake for half a shichen⁴, but my mind is unbelievably clear. I can’t remember ever being this sharp in my life.”

“Well, that’s a hell of a thing to celebrate. Does that mean you can finally finish the Thousand Character Classic?”

“Cut the nonsense. You know this isn’t simply madness.”

In truth, the Thunderbolt Saber King was right.

Jeok Cheongang had answered that way only on reflex. In his heart, he was already weighing the chances that this insane undertaking could succeed.

“I hate to admit it, but that precious Disciple of yours could withstand Transmitting Internal Energy Across the Body. He and that child Cheongpung were both born with the good fortune of a Heavenly Martial Physique, weren’t they?”

“…The Heavenly Martial Physique.”

“If that were all, I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you. He has the Muscles and Bones Heaven granted him, as well as enough potential and insight as a martial artist.”

A few months earlier, Jeok Cheongang would never have accepted a proposal that put his Disciple’s life at risk, no matter how strongly anyone pressed him.

Not even from the Thunderbolt Saber King, who now stood at death’s door after decades in which their rivalry had grown into a grudging affection.

But Jeok Cheongang had since heard the truth from Jin Taekyung himself.

There’s a chance. No, he has what it takes.

A transfer of internal energy between two Supreme Peak masters who had reached their realms. There was no precedent for it in the long history of Murim.

And Jin Taekyung, whose superhuman body could only be described as a Heavenly Martial Physique, possessed one more strange power.

The Prison of Karma.

A divine strength that could purify his body and even heal injuries.

With that power, he had a chance as long as he remained alive.

Besides…

He’s already succeeded at Transmitting Internal Energy Across the Body once.

Jeok Cheongang had heard about it only later: Jin Taekyung had received the internal energy of the Heavenly Power Demon, a great fiend of the Demonic Cult imprisoned in the Sichuan Tang Clan’s underground prison, and gone on to defeat the Western Heaven Demon Lord.

When Jeok Cheongang first heard, the knowledge that his Disciple had nearly died had almost made his heart burst. But the differences between then and now were clear.

The desperate circumstances were different. So was the martial prowess Jin Taekyung had since achieved.

He can do it. No…

He will do it.

He had to.

Jeok Cheongang steadied his wavering heart with firm resolve and watched the two men, joined through the Great Palace acupoint, his gaze deep and subdued.

Whoosh.

Internal energy beyond anything ever seen surged out in every direction.