Monochrome Sovereign (Novel) - Chapter 152 - Infamy and Name of Chivalry (2)
Chapter 152 – Infamy and Name of Chivalry (2)
===================
Translated by Heavenly Cat
Edited by Celestial Knight
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
===================
“Hoo.”
Yeon Ho-jeong relaxed his posture. Then, Muk Bi also lowered her bow.
“Let’s stop here for today.”
Thud.
As soon as he put down the Crazy Dragon Axe, he sat right down. It was an uncharacteristic sight for Yeon Ho-jeong, whose stamina alone was overwhelmingly powerful like a monster.
Muk Bi asked worriedly.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
He didn’t look okay at all.
Yeon Ho-jeong’s complexion was still pale. His internal injuries hadn’t fully healed yet.
“It would be good to rest for these few days.”
Yeon Ho-jeong smiled bitterly.
“I’ll see the condition.”
Muk Bi felt regretful inwardly.
Due to the ambush of the Red Demon Group, the Evil-Annihilating Army suffered a great blow. They had taken preemptive strikes so far, but they had never been ambushed.
And because of that ambush, there were over ten severely injured people. It was a great fortune that there were no casualties.
At that time, Yeon Ho-jeong changed abruptly.
After handling the severely injured as calmly as possible, searching for a clinic, and taking measures, Yeon Ho-jeong immediately took Muk Bi and part of the troops and struck the Red Demon Group.
Recalling that time, Muk Bi swallowed her saliva without realizing it.
‘He can become that scary.’
Yeon Ho-jeong became a demon and ran wild.
It was a madness hard to even describe in words. It was to the extent that the assassins, who wouldn’t even refuse death for their target, ran away in fear, so what more needs to be said.
Although he didn’t show it outwardly, Yeon Ho-jeong cherished the soldiers of the Evil-Annihilating Army terribly. The analogy might be a bit much, but he treated them almost like children.
‘He must have been angrier because of their methods.’
It is destiny for casualties to occur in a unit. No matter what tricks the enemy uses, the one who falls for it is the fool.
Still, this wasn’t right. From Muk Bi’s perspective, the Evil-Annihilating Army almost died a dog’s death.
Although he told them to be more tense, Yeon Ho-jeong must have had thoughts similar to hers.
‘Hmm?’
Muk Bi, looking at Yeon Ho-jeong with a complicated face, suddenly discovered that his hand was bleeding.
“Young Master Yeon. Blood on your hand…”
“Huh?”
Looking down at his right hand, Yeon Ho-jeong smacked his lips.
“No wonder it felt a bit stingy.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s the destiny of someone handling heavy weapons. Unless the body reaches the ultimate state, if you make a slight mistake, your hand can get crushed.”
Yeon Ho-jeong massaged his right hand.
“There’s no problem with the bones or joints. It just got pushed slightly and tore. It’ll heal if I rest for a few days.”
Heaving a deep sigh, Muk Bi took out a clean cloth from her bosom. It was a medical cloth she always carried around because she didn’t know who would get what kind of injury when.
“Give me your hand.”
“It’s fine.”
“Don’t be stubborn and give it here quickly.”
“Ah, I said it’s fine. You can leave it alone.”
“Give it before I make a hole in your glabella.”
“Here.”
Yeon Ho-jeong stretched out his hand. Muk Bi wrapped the cloth around his hand with familiar movements.
“Hey.”
“What is it.”
“But are your fingers okay? Pulling the bowstring of the Red Lotus Bow, it didn’t look like a joke.”
Muk Bi threw a dagger with a calm voice.
“I’m fine. Because I’m not a fool who can’t even look after her own body condition like someone else.”
Staring blankly at Muk Bi, Yeon Ho-jeong abruptly headbutted her.
Bbak!
“Ack!”
Muk Bi flopped down.
Sparks flew before her eyes. She almost lost her mind for a moment.
“W-what are you doing!”
“Keung. Just because you’re annoying.”
“This is really…!”
Muk Bi pounded her chest as if she was sick and tired of it. If someone worries about him, he should know how to accept it quietly; he’s a truly incomprehensible person.
“Treat the rest yourself!”
“I was going to do that anyway?”
“Phew! He needs to suffer a huge blow to come to his senses.”
Watching the back of Muk Bi walking away while huffing, Yeon Ho-jeong grinned.
Then, as Muk Bi disappeared, his face contorted.
“Argh, that stone-headed punk. Did she wrap cold iron around her forehead? What’s her identity?”
If by any chance he fought that guy later, he definitely shouldn’t do headbutts.
Still, after going through the pain of his head ringing numbly, distracting thoughts seemed to disappear. Yeon Ho-jeong touched his forehead and sighed.
“My internal injuries aren’t healing again.”
This internal injury was suffered when the main base of the Red Demon Group exploded.
He noticed the signs and tried to evade immediately, but Ok-cheong had dug in too deeply.
Consuming extreme internal energy, he unfolded Blood Wing Sweeping Heavens. He couldn’t even remember how many times he had unfolded it.
In the end, he was able to save everyone, but the internal injuries he suffered were quite severe.
‘Well, considering there were no casualties, it’s practically free.’
Yeon Ho-jeong, sitting cross-legged, operated the Jade Gauze True Formula.
Uuuung.
Blue true qi, which seemed to refresh the mood just by looking at it, circulated fully throughout his body.
Before he knew it, the Jade Gauze True Formula was right on the verge of reaching the Tenth Star. If he rose to the Tenth Star, there would be no higher place to climb in the mind method itself.
From then on, a time of infinitely deepening would come. In other words, it would be a battle of how to cultivate the Jade Gauze True Qi, not a battle of raising the level of achievement.
And the very moment he perfectly paved his own path.
That was exactly when it was said the realm of martial arts achieved the Twelfth Star Ultimate Mastery.
The problem was now.
“Hoo.”
Yeon Ho-jeong frowned.
“Right, I get it a bit now.”
The reason his internal injury treatment was slower than his days as the Dark Emperor.
Right after finishing the fight with Myeong-cheon, he collapsed. And it took twice as much time as he thought to heal his internal injuries.
It was the same this time too. The internal injuries suffered from the explosion of gunpowder were quite severe, but normally it should have recovered by more than nine parts by now to be normal.
And Yeon Ho-jeong realized the reason his internal injuries recovered slower than his days as the Dark Emperor only now.
“It was because of internal energy.”
It wasn’t because of the Three Divine Arts. Nor was it due to the absence of the Azure Dragon Qi.
It was because of the Jade Gauze True Formula.
To be precise, it was because the amount of internal energy that would become the foundation of the Four Gods Qi was much less than before.
In the first place, Yeon Ho-jeong was a person who didn’t consider the amount of internal energy important. And that was a correct perception.
Internal energy is quality over quantity. High-quality internal energy produces ten times the efficiency of other internal energies with a penny’s worth of strength.
That was common sense and truth. Whether Orthodox martial arts or Unorthodox martial arts, they didn’t deviate from that basic principle.
But the Four Gods Martial Arts wanted more than that.
‘In the first place, the Four Gods Qi itself produces a higher-dimensional power than the true qi of any internal energy mind method. Because it has such a characteristic, the quantity was just as important as the quality of the foundational mind method.’
The place where the Four Gods Qi resides is not the dantian, but the organ it is in charge of. In other words, the Four Gods Qi deepening meant that the ability of the organ in charge was activated more than before.
As the organ is activated, the body also undergoes constant changes. Master had said, from generation to generation, the body of the Four Gods Martial Arts Master is as sturdy as diamond.
‘I was like that too.’
During his days as the Dark Emperor, his body was practically a lethal weapon. He could easily crumple a steel plate without loading internal energy.
‘So that’s why Master passed down the Great Heaven Qi to me.’
The Great Heaven Qi itself was by no means a martial art worthy of discussing under heaven. It could ably be called first-rate, but it wasn’t at the level to be called a Divine Art.
The greatest advantage of such Great Heaven Qi was the amount and speed of accumulating qi.
‘Because I accumulated the largest amount of internal energy among anyone with the Great Heaven Qi, the Four Gods Qi was stably maintained. There was no reason to cower just because I suffered internal injuries.’
In other words, to solve the problem of the recovery speed not being what it used to be, it meant he had to amplify the foundational amount of internal energy.
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes deepened.
‘Should I take the Small Heavenly Mystery Elixir.’
He still hadn’t eaten the Small Heavenly Mystery Elixir that Zhuge Ah-yeon-yeon gave him.
Jianghu is dangerous. You don’t know what will happen when. Since it wasn’t going to be a big problem right away, he was saving it for the future.
After pondering for a while, Yeon Ho-jeong shook his head.
‘No, I should give that to Ji-pyeong later.’
Rather than taking a spirit medicine to increase the amount of internal energy, he would pull up the achievement of the internal energy mind method to elevate his overall capability.
It was a slightly roundabout way, but considering later, this was better. He could be certain.
‘Since I’ve learned the Four Gods Martial Arts anyway, I must advance to a higher realm than in the past. I wouldn’t be able to covet the Yellow Dragon with a simple approach like before.’
Eating one Small Heavenly Mystery Elixir wouldn’t cause any abnormalities in his martial arts growth. Rather, it could get better.
‘However.’
He’ll leave it for now. He believed that the path he had walked until now, the principles of martial arts he had realized, would not betray him.
‘First, I will master the Jade Gauze True Formula to the Tenth Star. Then, after achieving the Twelfth Star Ultimate Mastery through gradual internal energy amplification…’
Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes flashed.
‘I’ll have to master the Five Great Divine Arts.’
If he learned all the Five Great Divine Arts of the Yeon Clan, the supreme secret divine art would reveal itself. When that time comes, he can grasp both the quantity and quality of internal energy.
Yeon Ho-jeong made plans step by step. He hadn’t been able to make personal time because he had run too busily until now, but he thought it was rather a good thing.
When he was immersed in his own thoughts for a while.
“Brother?”
“Huh?”
Yeon Ho-jeong turned his head. There, Peng Man-ho was blinking his eyes with a naive face.
“Uh? When did you come?”
“I walked over thudding purposefully, but you didn’t notice?”
“Ah, really? But what’s the matter?”
“Sister Zhuge is calling you.”
“Uh, got it.”
Yeon Ho-jeong, rising from his seat, frowned at a sudden thought.
“Hey.”
“What’s wrong?”
“But can you stop calling me brother.”
“Why? Do you hate hearing it?”
“It’s not that, but we’re the same age, so why do you keep calling me brother?”
“If it’s someone worthy of respect, I should call you brother. Do you know Guan Yu was older than Liu Bei?”
Yeon Ho-jeong, about to shoot back a word, just let out a sigh and waved his hand.
“Suit yourself.”
“Yes.”
“But what part of me is respectable?”
“You use a heavier weapon than me.”
“…Is that all?”
“What do you mean, is that all? It’s respectable enough, at that level. I don’t get pushed back in strength wherever I go, but in front of you, brother, I simply can’t…”
“You, don’t call me brother.”
“Why?”
“If I tell you not to call me, don’t call me, you punk.”
Walking briskly, Yeon Ho-jeong felt an unwarranted surge of emotion.
“Damn it, if there’s nothing to respect, do you have to respect something like that!”
“You’re here? Hmm? What’s with your expression?”
“What’s wrong with my expression.”
“You just look sour. And why is your forehead so red? Did you bump it against a stone somewhere?”
“I bumped it against a place harder than a stone.”
Yeon Ho-jeong, who roughly slumped onto the ground, asked.
“So, for what reason did you call me, Strategist?”
Zhuge Ah-yeon-yeon chuckled.
“Don’t tease me.”
“I’m not teasing. You are the strategist, right?”
“Never mind, look at this.”
Yeon Ho-jeong’s face instantly turned serious as he saw the letter Zhuge Ah-yeon-yeon handed him.
“Returning to the Alliance…?”
“They said they’re calling us to commend the achievements of our unit and to give us a rest period. At least, nominally it is.”
“Nominally, you say… What else is there?”
Zhuge Ah-yeon-yeon pulled out another letter from her bosom.
“That was sent by the Murim Alliance, and this was sent separately by the Successor of the Beggars.”
Yeon Ho-jeong also read the letter sent by Ga Deuk-sang.
His eyes sparkled.
“Oho.”
“Suspicious, right?”
A subtle tension surfaced on Zhuge Ah-yeon-yeon’s face.
“The Tang Clan Head is absolutely not someone who deliberates much. If it’s no, it’s no, if it’s right, it’s right. That’s how my father viewed him, at least.”
“And yet he took the initiative to step forward and lead the Evil-Annihilating Army’s return to the Alliance?”
“Smells fishy, right?”
“Yeah, smells fishy.”
Yeon Ho-jeong recalled Tang Kwan.
The face of a lone wolf, full of extremely dangerous ominousness in both eyes.
“In the end, he held hands with Murong Jun.”
“…”
“I expected it would happen, but it’s much faster than I thought.”
Zhuge Ah-yeon-yeon asked worriedly.
“What will you do?”
“What do you mean what will I do? A formal order came down from the Alliance.”
“If it feels uncomfortable, stalling for time a little longer…”
Yeon Ho-jeong cut her off firmly.
“No. The Evil-Annihilating Army is an independent mobile unit. We are that free, but we must thoroughly follow the orders passed down from the higher-ups. We should at least show that we are. That is exactly responsibility.”
“Hoo, it’s difficult.”
“The kids?”
“There’s no big discomfort in moving. Still, they should take a few more days of rest to prevent any aftereffects.”
“Good.”
Yeon Ho-jeong inwardly felt it was a pity.
‘The next target might have been Jin-yang.’
Jin-yang.
One of the Five Great Divine Generals of the Dark Emperor Castle, a man who scattered fear to the Orthodox Murim with his flexible martial arts as much as his cheerful nature.
Yeon Ho-jeong, who had been lost in thought, soon shook his head.
‘This might be better.’
Both he and the Evil-Annihilating Army had run too hastily.
They needed to reorganize the troops on this occasion. It was a pity, but now was not the time to be greedy.
“We will return to the Alliance in three days. I will tell the kids myself.”