Childhood Friend of the Zenith - Chapter 104

༺ Master (2) ༻

Why is Namgung Bi-ah in my room?

After seeing such an absurd sight, Elder Shin spoke up.

「How far did you guys go while I was gone...」

‘What do you mean?’

Elder Shin ignored my question, seemingly disappointed that he missed the action.

It would be a bit of a problem if I woke her up, so I quickly grabbed my clothes and snuck out in secret.

I wrapped my injured arm with a cloth to stop the blood, and I incinerated the blood-stained clothes, subsequently burying them.

‘The servants might be anxious when they realized some of my clothes are missing but I couldn’t just leave the evidence like that.’

Clean and in a new change of clothes, I came back to my room.

Now was the time to deal with the real problem.

“What do I do with her?”

I couldn’t help but wonder as I looked at Namgung Bi-ah who was rubbing her face on the blanket.

It was not like I could just throw her out.

“...Why does she insist on sleeping here when she has her own room?”

I heard that if she wasn’t out to train during the day, she usually napped in my room. Did that mean she waited for me to leave before entering?

I didn’t think that’s the case.

‘Should I just sleep with the servants then?’

Usually, it would be fine if I just missed a day of sleep, but the fatigue I was feeling right now would not go away unless I got a good night of sleep.

Was this also because of the fact that Elder Shin had been using my body?

「Then it’s probably not physical fatigue.」

Like Elder Shin said, I was feeling it as well.

Even if he had used my muscles that I didn’t normally use, it didn’t make sense for me to have gotten this tired.

That could only mean what I felt was mental fatigue.

‘I’m not sure if sleep can help with that.’

I was also not sure if I could keep myself awake, I was about to pass out.

Since I couldn’t just sleep next to her nor could I miss sleep, I took a pillow and lay down on the floor outside the room.

「Seems like that part of you that refuses to take what’s offered to you on a silver platter hasn’t changed when I was gone, huh...?」

‘Do you really have to nag all the time after your big return?’

「I understood it back then because I thought you were young... but now that I learned that you come from a different time, and see you acting like this despite your age, how do you think I feel?」

‘Well, you say that, but you yourself never actually got to-‘Rêạd new chapters on no/v/e/lbin(.)com

I stopped my words. I realized I went a bit too far with that one.

‘Elder Shin...?’

「...」

‘I apologize. I agree I went a bit far just now...’

I called out to him a few more times, but the old man didn’t respond.

In the end, I offered him a few more apologies and decided to sleep.

* * * *

Today marks the end of my business here at Mount Hua.

The only thing I had to do was to see the Celestial Plum Blossom, so I was thinking of spending at most four days before returning to my clan.

My journey really was nearing its end.

Soon after, the Murim Alliance would find the basement of the Black Palace’s hideout and contact Mount Hua.

If that happened, could Mount Hua’s tournament festival continue?

I wasn’t too sure because I had never paid too much attention to Mount Hua, but once they heard about this, they might either delay the tournament or just shut it down completely.

That blood pool was essentially the same thing as a tool for human sacrifice.

‘But if it does go on...’

There were two things that would cause the tournament to go on.

First, if they didn’t want the news of this discovery to reach Huayin City.

Telling them about the deaths of Mount Hua’s swordsmen would only make them quake in fear.

For that reason, I believed they would try to keep it as quiet as possible, at least when they first discovered the hideout.

‘Though they might find a different excuse to stop the tournament regardless, without raising any suspicion.’

The second thing was that they might not find the cave at all, or find it too late.

The latter was probably the worst-case scenario and the one no one wanted.

It was a piece of intel that would show them how serious the matters were, so I prayed the second option would not come to be.

‘...Let’s just get some sleep for now.’

Trying to think about it with my fatigued, fuzzy mind was pointless. I couldn’t even collect my thoughts any longer.

As soon as I closed my eyes, I dozed off....

...and shortly after, I woke up.

I forcefully opened my tired eyes. Thankfully, I didn’t see a foreign ceiling this time.

How long did I sleep? Judging by the fact that I could see the sunlight, I supposed I hadn’t slept that much.

When I lifted my body up, someone pressed my head down and blocked me from getting up.

“...!”

Because of the sudden surprise, I fully woke up from my half-asleep state. Now that I looked at it, I was using something as a pillow—and it was definitely not a pillow.

Putting aside the fact that it was soft and smooth, I was able to smell a fragrant scent coming from the direction of my left check.

“You can lie down for a little longer.”

Hearing the monotone voice I heard from above my head, I didn’t have to think for even a second to realize who it was.

I was using Namgung Bi-ah’s thighs as a pillow right now.

I asked with a confused voice, “What are you doing?”

“You fell asleep.”

“What does that have to do with anything...?”

“Seol-Ah was here... but she left just now.”

‘Yes, if my Qi was endless.’

If I decide to use demonic Qi just like in my past life, my Qi would only continue to increase.

That was the monstrous power of the Heavenly Demon after all.

‘However, if I do this, then I’ll be the same as in my past life.’

In the end, I would be met with a wall and I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.

Whether it was the peak or the fusion realm, reaching those levels wasn’t important to me.

The max rank of the Destructive Flame Martial Arts, that’s what I had to focus on. I realized that in order to do that, I had to find a different path than the one I had chosen in my past life.

Luckily enough, a master that would help me was closer to me than anyone else.

「Who gave you the permission to call me master? Now you are just trying to use me.」

‘You should pay rent if you use my body like that without permission.’

「Now you are just being shameless!」

After flowing my Qi, I used it to generate heat inside my body.

‘Up until now, it’s been the same.’

I had to think about the sensation Elder Shin had shown me.

The sensation that felt like a storm inside my body.

It would’ve taken a long time to express this with words, but I experienced it with my own body, so I already knew full well how it felt.

– Whoosh...!

Trying to replicate the sensation as closely as I could, I circulated my Qi.

The pressure I felt from doing so made my shoulders shake.

‘How... How can I maintain this?’

I needed to have crazy control of my Qi in order to maintain the raging storm inside my body.

I had to make sure that none of it leaked out.

My body already remembered how to do that.

All I had to do was recreate that feeling, but that was quite difficult.

「You should at the very least be able to do that much if you are using me like that. How much help are you trying to get from me?」

‘I didn’t say anything, though?’

I supposed Elder Shin still was mad about the conversation we had earlier.

「Hmph.」

The storm that started in my abdomen started to spread throughout my body, but none of it leaked out of my body.

I even controlled my breath in case it tried to leave through my mouth.

Enduring the Qi that felt like it would erupt at any moment made veins pop out on my neck.

The condensed Qi started to rise up to my middle abdomen.

– Sssss-

My body burned, as though it wasn’t ready yet.

I collected Qi and flowed more of it into my mid-abdominal area without hesitation. My instincts were telling me that now was the time.

– Kwaaaaa-!

As if to tell me that my instincts were correct, the wall of the middle abdominal area was broken through all too easily and the Qi entered it like a tsunami.

Wooosh-!

Subsequently, the Qi I had been building up inside my body erupted and heat was discharged all around me.

「...You really like to use me.」

“Phew...!”

I raised my hand, focusing my Qi.

The heat aura that formed around my palm looked calm and stable.

Seeing that, I said, “Thank you.”

I couldn’t help but express my gratitude toward the old man. It was thanks to him that I was able to break through that wall.

「I don’t like how you barely react to a feat that most martial artists only dream of reaching.」

“...This is where it truly begins after all.”

The peak realm.

I reached the level that I thought it would take me at least another year.

My progress was much faster than I expected.

Time was one thing, but I felt like I now knew what path to take.

I wasn’t going to throw away my old style of fighting, but incorporate new techniques into what I already knew.

「Don’t you think you should inspect your Qi?」

“I think it’s fine. All the different types are harmoniously flowing around on their own.”

「That’s good, I probably don’t need to tell you anything else. Seems like you know what to do now.」

“I do.”

「However, don’t we have something to talk about?」

“...We do.”

My heart sank. That was another reason why I had left the lodge.

Up until now, Elder Shin had been silent about the matter.

I knew that he was being considerate.

Even when he didn’t know about my resurrection, he said that he had lots to ask of me.

But now that he knew, there was probably much more that he wanted to ask about me.

「I have way too many things I want to ask you, but I would like to ask the most important thing right now.」

“What would you do if I just don’t answer, or lie in my response?”

「I’ll consider it your choice and respect it.」

My heart felt heavy. Elder Shin’s belief in me felt heavy.

I always knew him as an annoying old man that nagged all the time, but I also knew that he was a hero of the past that saved his generation.

To deny that fact was impossible because of everything he showed me.

「I’ll begin asking my questions now.」

And so, he did.

「What is the Heavenly Demon?」