Chapter 88 – Growth (1)

‘What is this?’

Ha-ryun clearly saw that plaque with his own eyes. A jade plaque with an unusual triangle pattern with two lines drawn like a circle.

[Remember this pattern in your head.]

[What is this?]

[If you see a person with a jade plaque and this pattern, give them your allegiance.]

[Allegiance? No…]

[Yes. He is the true head of the Eight Evil Families.]

And he made sure to memorize the pattern in his head. He was also the one who confirmed the jade pendant around Mumu’s neck.

However, saying that the person he should be most careful of is that same person felt like a contradiction. Ha-ryun felt confused.

‘Is it possible that the lord hasn’t revealed his identity and is acting?’

But even so, it made no sense. The reason why he didn’t reveal his identity could be because he was in the middle of enemy lines.

But it was even stranger that he wasn’t telling the truth to his own people.

‘Something is strange.’

In that sense, there was no reason to act after the war had started. Instead, if there were any variables, he should deal with them.

However, it was instead said that he was one of those who interfered with the plan and was a person they had to be careful of.

Then the person leaning on the door flipped the pages and asked.

“Why are you reacting like this?”

“Uh?”

“As soon as I mentioned the presence of Yu Mumu, you stopped breathing for a moment. There was emotional agitation. Can you deny that?”

Ha-ryun frowned. He was trying to manage his expression, but this person noticed the change in his breathing. This man was a monster.

It wasn’t for nothing that the Demon Blood Sect of the Eight Evil families was known to be the best of them.

‘Do I need to speak?’

Ha-ryun was worried for a moment. Would it be better to reveal what he knows?

Or would it be better to find out what was happening? He decided on the latter.

“… I wasn’t moved by the name of Yu Mumu, but because of the person who gave the order being the lord.”

At Ha-ryun’s words, the person turning the pages turned their body. With a click of his mouth, that person said.

“There are many things that changed while you were locked up.”

“What are those changes?”

“Master Heo was the mastermind behind the great war and is now imprisoned in the academy’s prison.”

“Uh?”

What was this now?

As if the war failing wasn’t enough, Master Heo, who oversaw the whole operation, was locked up inside a prison.

“And if Master Heo reveals the secret…”

“There would be no such thing. He would kill himself before that happens.”

The person leaning on the door spoke with certainty. He seemed to be confident about his statement. Ha-ryun then changed the topic and asked.

“… have you seen the person who is our lord?”

At this question, the leaning man closed the pages and said,

“Well. When the time is right, he will give you orders.”

“But…”

Pak!

Before he could say anything, the man grabbed Ha-ryun by the neck.

“Kuak! why…”

“I tried not to talk about it because it was a passing incident, but the fact that not one or two but five people didn’t have the drug work on them. I wonder if someone had hastily used it before the war started?”

Ha-ryun’s eyes fluttered at that question.

He thought there would be no problems if he stayed silent, but he was found out by someone who had insight into the issue.

“No one else can handle that drug except for those from the White Valley. What do you think?”

-wooo!

Ha-ryun’s face turned red as he clenched the hand holding his neck. It was difficult to withstand the energy being pushed into his neck.

‘Is this it?’

He knew there was a difference, but this person had already gone beyond the strength of students.

He did hear that the Demon Blood Sect was made up of natural talents, but this gap was too wide.

‘This… kuak…’

He could even die like this, Ha-ryun struggled and said.

“N.. No… not… M… me…”

“No? You funny bastard. You couldn’t have done this intentionally. Do you think I didn’t know about the issue of you breaking the orders of Master Heo and getting caught?”

He knew about it?

This meant that this man was trusted by Master Heo as well. Such information was usually hidden. The man pulled Ha-ryun close and whispered.

“A word said out loud before the right time has no value. It didn’t matter if you wanted to make a name for yourself or not. But thanks to that, things have changed.”

“I… I really… kuak….”

“I want to kill you right now, but it is a pity. It won’t be good for you if you act in a situation where our tasks don’t line up.”

Pak!

With that, the hand was removed from his neck, and Ha-ryun coughed as he knelt on the floor.

“Cough…”

“From now on, you’ll listen to my orders.”

‘!?’

At that, Ha-ryun raised his head and looked at the man.

Did that mean that this person and the lord were equals?

And to obey his orders? The man looked down at Ha-ryun with cold eyes.

“Don’t like it?”

Hearing his words, Ha-ryun clenched his teeth. If he said no, he would be killed.

And he couldn’t do anything right now except bow to him.

“I will… follow your orders.”

In this humiliating situation, Ha-ryun’s inner feelings were boiling with rage.

—

Mumu was sitting on his bed, trying to memorize the thing he saw on the ceiling of the 3rd basement. Since Ha-ryun’s release wasn’t known yet, they couldn’t find out how to meet him, so he instead worked hard on this.

“Phew…”

The more he memorized the broken words, the clearer his mind felt, and he could feel the energy moving in his stomach.

The energy was growing faster compared to the cultivation technique that Jin-hyuk taught him. Unlike Mumu, who performed this hidden cultivation method, Jin-hyuk was doing his own training.

The New Sun Flying Kick.

It was a book that Mumu had found in the first-floor basement.

After what happened last night, Jin-hyuk desperately wanted to break through the limits of his martial arts. It would be no exaggeration to say that he was surrounded by monsters.

‘Senior Ma Yeon-hwa… Senior So-so… Senior Guyang Seorin… Do yang-woon…’

Everyone was strong, and he realized it clearly when he fought the masked men.

It was difficult for him to take them down.

‘I need to be strong.’

That way, he could protect everyone and not be a burden to them. To do that, this new technique he was learning would be able to cover his shortcomings.

‘But let’s not rush.’

It was impossible to catch up in an instant.

They, too, must have become stronger after training hard. On the other hand, he had just realized this new determination.

‘If I keep taking one step at a time, I would be able to stand with them or even go ahead of them!’

He had to change his mindset. It wasn’t enough to just catch up. He had to surpass them to be considered strong.

‘It can be done. Yu Jin-hyuk. The impossible can be made possible with effort…’

And then he thought of Mumu.

He was holding onto that determination until Mumu entered his mind. The moment his adopted brother came to mind, things changed. Oddly enough, he couldn’t even think of catching up to Mumu.

‘Is he really human?’

The more he knew, the more it was beyond common sense. The word monster was the most appropriate for him. Jin-hyuk shook his head.

‘No. let’s not think about him.’

It was better to think of Mumu as a different being. Even the successors of the Four Great Warriors were bound to become frustrated regarding matters with Mumu.

‘Right. Let’s not be too conscious of him. And his strength doesn’t come from martial arts. It is a different area, so I don’t need…’

“Jin-hyuk!”

Mumu called for him. At this, Jin-hyuk looked puzzled.

“What?”

Was he calling him over because he couldn’t cultivate?

Mumu smiled and said.

“I think my dantian has formed!”

“… what?”

Jin-hyuk frowned at Mumu’s words. It was only half an hour since he had started cultivating, and his dantian had formed?

It cannot be.

Of course, looking at Mumu’s growth rate, he knew that the dantian would form within a couple of days, but this was too fast.

“Come here.”

“Huh.”

Jin-hyuk put his hand on Mumu’s stomach and infused his energy into it. As he felt the dantian, his expression became stiff.

A dantian had really formed.

But…

‘What is this?’

For a dantian which had just formed, it was too large. The size of the dantian, which should be the size of a small bead, was like a huge polished pearl.

‘It makes no sense.’

It was like there was no loss of energy. Although the method he taught to Mumu had a high sense of stability, the effectiveness was known to be low in the initial stages.

Then how?

‘Is this kid using what I taught him?’

He couldn’t understand what was happening, Jin-hyuk said.

“Right? Right?”

What should he do now? It was such a bizarrely fast progress that he was shocked.

‘What is with…’

His strength was already shocking, but now he also excelled in martial arts? This really would piss people off.

At the most, he was trying to stop his heart from following his desire to rush, but the speed of Mumu’s progress was too high.

“Did something go wrong?”

Jin-hyuk coughed at Mumu’s question.

“N-No. It formed well.”

“Hehe, then can we move to the next step?”

“…”

It was really annoying.

Mumu was anxious to learn the next step. But since martial arts was a kind of slow study, he had to be careful.

‘Is this why the masters controlled me when I got impatient and did not praise me?’

Now he knew why his masters acted the way they did. The learning speed was too fast, so he decided to hold back to avoid making Mumu arrogant.

“Right. You are ready to move to the next level.”

“Yippe! What will we learn?”

“You will learn to deal with the internal energy in your dantian.”

Mumu’s eyes shone at those words. Jin-hyuk shook his head.

“But not today.”

“Uh?”

“We just formed the dantian today, so don’t rush it and continue the cultivation, so you get used to it.”

It would be better to calm his excitement. At Jin-hyuk’s words, Mumu pouted.

Then,

“Ah, then is this okay?”

“Uh?”

“If I worked hard in making my dantian, didn’t you tell me you’d give me a pill?”

“Ah…”

Right.

He did promise Mumu a pill if he created a dantian.