Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 240 - Innate True Qi (2)

Chapter 240 – Innate True Qi (2)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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-sentient being. It seems this fellow… has learned the breathing method of the immortals.

-The breathing method of the immortals?

To the puzzled Mok Gyeong-un, Blue Spirit said,

-Do you remember that I told you that the circulation methods of heart methods and divine arts originated long ago from the Daoist breathing methods?

-Ah… yes.

-It is said that long ago, Daoists and immortals who had accumulated deep cultivation practiced breathing methods that invigorated primordial qi for longevity and ascension.

-You mean it invigorates primordial qi itself, not just internal energy? Wasn’t primordial qi life itself, fixed from the moment one was born?

-That is right. The qi of life is primordial qi fixed from the start. That is why, in ages long past, it was called innate true qi.

Innate true qi.

It was the true primordial qi that human beings possessed innately from the moment they were born.

In that sense, things like internal energy, being cultivated later through training, were at one time also called acquired true qi.

-Remarkable. I had heard that the way of cultivating the breathing method of the immortals, no, innate true qi, had already died out long ago even within the Daoist school.

-Then this man trained in innate true qi, a line whose transmission had already been severed?

-Only that can stand in complete opposition to the qi of the dead, death aura.

At Blue Spirit’s words, a strange light appeared in Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes.

Innate true qi, completely opposed to death aura.

No wonder he had felt a peculiar aversion from the first time he saw him.

Blue Spirit warned him.

-Be careful. Even if the qi is still faint, if it is completely opposed to you, then for you, sentient being, it could be extremely fatal…

Her warning had not even finished.

The hot qi surging from Ju Un-hyang’s middle dantian produced a great rebounding force.

Because of that, the palm Mok Gyeong-un had against his chest was flung away.

Not missing that instant, Ju Un-hyang struck a palm at the place of Mok Gyeong-un’s dantian, loaded with innate true qi.

-Paaang!

Hit in the abdomen, Mok Gyeong-un’s body bent like a shrimp.

‘Got… him!’

That was not because he had taken the blow directly.

The moment the palm touched his abdomen, he had done it to redirect the force with the method of moving the flower and grafting the tree.

-Crash!

Innate true qi flowed out through Mok Gyeong-un’s soles, splitting the stone floor.

Seeing it, Ju Un-hyang clicked his tongue.

He had not expected him to redirect with such ease a surprise palm strike landed from that distance.

But that palm was not the real killing move.

Ju Un-hyang unleashed the Reverse-Circulation True Force he had prepared in his other hand and aimed for Mok Gyeong-un’s heart.

“That technique again.”

It was likely because, among the techniques Ju Un-hyang had mastered, this one held the greatest destructive power.

But showing the same technique multiple times was Ju Un-hyang’s mistake.

From Mok Gyeong-un’s position, it was no different from kindly granting him instruction.

-Shrrr!

At that moment, death aura also began rotating in reverse circulation within Mok Gyeong-un’s palm and condensing.

Sensing that, Ju Un-hyang’s eyes widened.

‘No way?’

And then Mok Gyeong-un’s palm and Ju Un-hyang’s palm collided.

-Paaaaang!

At the same time, a powerful wind pressure spread around the two of them and cracks split the ground.

At the instant of collision, the balance of force was almost evenly matched.

Ju Un-hyang inwardly could not hide his shock.

‘How can he do this?’

Reverse-Circulation True Force was an extremely profound ultimate art.

It was not the sort of supreme art one could learn by simply watching it.

Even the true intent embedded in the move had to be comprehended.

Yet the sight of him reproducing it so precisely naturally left Ju Un-hyang astonished.

-Tremble.

For a moment, the reverse-spinning forces were evenly matched.

It was even more so because the qi of the two was completely opposed.

But no matter how opposed the qi might be, differences in sheer power were bound to exist.

‘I am… being pushed back.’

Ju Un-hyang’s pupils trembled.

Then, as Mok Gyeong-un drew up even more death aura,

-Paang!

Ju Un-hyang’s body was flung backward.

Only after flying several zhang and rolling across the ground several times did he finally come to a stop.

“Uwek.”

Having suffered internal injury, Ju Un-hyang vomited up a mouthful of black blood.

‘A monster… like a monster…’

He collapsed helplessly.

He had never seen such a monster before.

From cultivated realm to qi to everything else, the difference in level was so great that he was not an opponent who could be dealt with by grit.

“Cough, cough…”

Ju Un-hyang, coughing blood, staggered and barely forced himself upright.

His legs trembled.

In his current condition after suffering internal injuries, even fleeing would be difficult.

Ju Un-hyang raised his head and looked at Mok Gyeong-un.

And was left speechless.

‘Just a mere scratch?’

He himself was in such a state from internal injury that even moving his body was hard, yet Mok Gyeong-un had only a small scratch on his palm.

At that moment, while staring at the wound on his palm, Mok Gyeong-un spoke.

“That power you possess. It seems it could become rather troublesome.”

“What?”

“I mean innate true qi.”

‘!?’

At those words, Ju Un-hyang’s eyes widened.

How had this man recognized innate true qi?

Because innate true qi followed a completely different track from ordinary internal energy cultivated afterward, it was not the sort of qi one could identify just by sensing it.

So Ju Un-hyang asked in a grave voice,

“You… what in the world are you?”

“Who knows. There is no need for you to know, but I am troubled.”

“Troubled?”

“I am thinking that, for the sake of later, it may be better to kill you now.”

“What?”

The moment those words ended, he started walking toward Ju Un-hyang.

It seemed he truly meant to put it into action at once.

Though he was only approaching slowly, because of his internal injuries Ju Un-hyang could not properly control his body.

-Step, step.

The sound of Mok Gyeong-un’s footsteps as he approached with sword intent gathered in his sword-fingers sounded like the signal of a messenger opening the gates of hell.

And that signal quickened.

Mok Gyeong-un shot his body forward and tried to cut Ju Un-hyang’s throat at once.

Unable to evade, Ju Un-hyang stared fixedly at Mok Gyeong-un, who swung his sword-fingers, with vacant eyes.

At that instant,

-Pak!

The sword-fingers that had been about to sever his throat stopped a hair’s breadth from his skin.

-Trickle.

But because of the sword intent dwelling in the sword-fingers, his skin was cut and blood ran down.

Puzzled, Ju Un-hyang asked,

“Why did you stop?”

“You are unusual.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You are the first person to wear that sort of expression before your throat was cut.”

“What sort of expression are you talking about?”

“Usually, people are either paralyzed by fear or glare back in desperation. But they all have one thing in common. Before they die, they tightly shut their eyes.”

“…”

“But you kept staring at me even in the very instant your throat was about to be cut. And with a look of deep frustration, at that.”

For Mok Gyeong-un, this was the first time he had experienced such a thing.

He had thought that before death, every human became the same, but Ju Un-hyang was different.

He felt no fear at the fact of dying, and no resentment toward him whatsoever.

There was only a sense that something was left undone.

Because of that, Mok Gyeong-un asked,

“I am curious why you were making that kind of face.”

“…”

At that question, Ju Un-hyang furrowed his brow.

What in the world was this bastard?

He could not read his thoughts at all.

He had abruptly tried to kill him, only to stop for some bizarre reason.

“…Even if I told you the reason, it doesn’t seem like you would spare me, so why would I answer?”

“Who knows. My whims may change.”

“A whim?”

“Yes. That innate true qi of yours is certainly irritating to me, but in truth the two of us do not really share a grudge.”

“Then there was no need for you to attack me in the first place.”

Ju Un-hyang said that with a dumbfounded look.

At that, Mok Gyeong-un answered with a smiling face.

“If there is even the slightest possibility that something may become a threat to oneself, is it not more efficient to kill it in advance?”

“Ha!”

At those words, Ju Un-hyang clicked his tongue in disbelief.

This man’s way of thinking felt very different from that of ordinary people.

No, it seemed completely different.

‘It feels as though he is not human at all.’

He did not know why.

From the moment he first sensed this man’s vicious qi until even now, as they spoke, he felt a strange sensation, as though facing an inhuman being.

‘What in the world is this man’s true nature?’

The explanation that he was merely a younger talent of the Heaven and Earth Society was not enough.

As he kept staring at Mok Gyeong-un, Ju Un-hyang opened his mouth.

“I cannot fully agree with your extreme way of thinking… but I had one similar thought myself.”

“A similar thought?”

“Yes. That cold and vicious qi of yours… I thought that if you became an enemy, you would have to be killed without fail, or else be left completely untouched.”

It was the fierce and evil qi Mok Gyeong-un had displayed when he crushed the Qi-Resistant Stone slab that had filled Ju Un-hyang with intense wariness and crushing pressure.

That was why, if only for an instant, he had thought, though not as extremely as Mok Gyeong-un, that if there was any chance he might become an enemy, then he would have to be killed no matter what.

‘Damn it. I don’t even know what I am saying.’

There was a blade at his throat, and yet he was saying pointless things.

But Mok Gyeong-un gave a short laugh and said,

“How curious. Then we arrived at the same thought.”

“In a way.”

“Do you still think the same now?”

“…That is a meaningless question. The power over life and death is in your hands anyway.”

“Even so, one never knows.”

“…I don’t know whether you are toying with me, but after experiencing the kind of person you are, I absolutely do not want to make you an enemy. If I were forced to do so, I would have to desperately kill you no matter what means I used.”

“You are honest.”

“There is no point in lying when I may die anyway.”

At those words, the corners of Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth rose.

“This is the first time.”

“What is the first time now?”

“That troublesome qi of yours still irritates me, but I no longer particularly want to kill you.”

“You no longer want to kill me?”

“Yes. It seems like a highly inefficient judgment, but I do not dislike your side all that much.”

‘!?’

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Ju Un-hyang frowned, unable to hide his confusion.

Had this man really changed his mind just as he had said?

In any case, if his state of mind had changed, then this was also a chance for Ju Un-hyang to save his life.

So Ju Un-hyang cautiously indicated the sword-fingers with his eyes and said,

“Then can you move this away?”

“I have not yet heard your answer.”

“What answer? Ah!”

Was he asking why, when his life was in danger, he had worn such a frustrated expression?

He really was a strange fellow.

Why did he want to know something like that?

He could not understand it, but because he wanted to end this situation, he soon spoke.

“I was simply frustrated in that moment.”

“Frustrated?”

“…After resolving to change everything with my own hands, the thought that I would once again be unable to do anything.”

At those words, Mok Gyeong-un looked at him with peculiar eyes.

He was clearly someone around his own age.

And yet the way he spoke was as though he had already passed through an entire life.

That struck him as extremely strange.

So Mok Gyeong-un said to him,

“Now that I have heard your answer, even more…”

The words had not finished leaving his mouth.

-Pak!

At that instant, Ju Un-hyang’s figure, which had been right in front of him, vanished.

‘!?’

Where had he gone?

Mok Gyeong-un moved his eyes and scanned the surroundings.

Then he saw something blurry rushing toward him from the right at an immense speed.

It was so fast that it was difficult to distinguish with the naked eye.

This was not something that could possibly be avoided.

-Shushuk! Papapapapak!

In an instant, something flashed past quickly.

At the same time, blows struck the vital acupoints all over his body, and his body was sent limp into the air.

-Paaak!

The force that slammed into his vital acupoints was so powerful that Mok Gyeong-un’s body spun several times in the air before crashing to the ground.

-Thud!

“Kkh.”

The expression of Mok Gyeong-un, fallen on the ground, hardened.

The pain was one thing, but because of the qi that had pierced through the major vital points in his body, he could not move.

That qi was suppressing the death aura in his body with a fierce force.

Because of that, Mok Gyeong-un realized what it was.

‘Innate true qi…’

It was the same qi that Ju Un-hyang possessed.

The difference was that it was incomparably more vast and profound than Ju Un-hyang’s.

Into Mok Gyeong-un’s ear came a voice cold as ice.

“Trainee Mok Gyeong-un. You truly are a dangerous existence.”

The owner of that voice was none other than Deputy Thousand-Household Commander So Ye-rin, the assistant supervisor overseeing the Embroidered Uniform Guard selection process.

Thanks to that, Mok Gyeong-un realized his own judgment had been correct.

When he had first seen So Ye-rin, he had felt, for the briefest instant, an aversion similar to what he felt from Ju Un-hyang.

But unlike Ju Un-hyang, she possessed internal energy, so that sense had reached him only vaguely. As expected, she too had mastered innate true qi.

-Crack! Crack!

The innate true qi that had entered his body began suppressing his death aura and trying to burrow into his internal organs.

At that, Mok Gyeong-un let out a deep breath and converted his qi.

-Wooooo!

At that instant, black qi surged from Mok Gyeong-un’s body.

It was demonic aura, born by gathering together his death aura and all the qi he had obtained until now into one.

-Swaaaa!

The moment his qi converted into demonic aura, the profound innate true qi that had dug into each vital point was pushed back out and dispersed, rising like shimmering haze.

‘What?’

At that bizarre sight, the eyes of Deputy Thousand-Household Commander So Ye-rin, who had thought she had completely subdued Mok Gyeong-un, trembled faintly.