〈 Chapter 647 〉 Nine-Tenths (九成).
Saaaaaaah---!!!
Cold energy poured down. Under the tremendous pressure, I couldn’t even breathe.
“Kuh…!”
Clenching my teeth, I let out a groan. That was the greatest resistance I could muster.
Swoosh—! My meridians swelled from the surging energy.
Being forced in like this, the pain was unimaginable.
And yet, I couldn’t even block it.
‘If I block it, I’ll explode.’
If I tried to impede the flow, my body would explode from the strain.
Such was the magnitude of the energy.
The surging cold energy passed through my meridians and piled directly into my heart. No, “piled” wasn’t the right expression. Such a gentle description didn’t fit.
It was being forcibly crammed inside. All the cold energy that had been spread across the Northern Sea and the cold energy inside the Palace Lord’s body were being shoved into my heart.
‘Damn it.’
What kind of messed-up situation was this? I barely withstood the energy as I tried to rack my brain for a way out, but.
Right now, all I could do was endure.
The quantity was too vast for me to attempt anything.
It felt like trying to contain waves in a jar.
Moreover, even though it clearly knew I couldn’t take any more, the Madocheonheupgong didn’t stop. It swallowed everything down forcefully, as if trying to devour it all somehow.
As a result, the cold energy kept entering my body. The Guyeomhwaryungong activated and emitted heat, but it couldn’t keep up with the vast quantity.
“Kuh…!”
As I groaned, cold air seeped from the corners of my mouth. It was energy leaking from inside my body.
It was the first time since learning the fire arts.
The swollen meridians were gradually turning into agony.
The vessel was reaching its limit and creaking under the strain.
How long had I been absorbing energy for it to already be full?
I had discarded my attachments and widened the vessel, yet even that was completely filled. I was forcing myself to withstand it, not knowing how long this would last.
Moreover, the energy that had filled me was all intense cold energy.
If I couldn’t dilute it with heat, my body would freeze first.
Between a rock and a hard place.
That was my current state.
‘Fuck.’
If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have laid a finger on it.
At first I thought it was a fortuitous encounter, but instead of good fortune, it was a knife held to my throat.
‘All the cold energy spread across the Northern Sea is coming in.’
Was this an anomaly caused by the Ice Crystal shattering and the Palace Lord collapsing?
‘What a load of bullshit.’
At least several hundred years. It was a massive collection of energy accumulated and stockpiled by the bloodline of the Ice Palace, using their own vitality as collateral.
And all that energy was pouring into me.
‘Was this all energy Mang was supposed to take?’
Perhaps that was the case.
He had steadily gathered energy for his resurrection, and since things had gone wrong at the last moment and he failed, that might be it.
Crackle—!
“Kuk—!”
Beyond the meridians, even my muscles swelled.
The excessive energy was gradually affecting my flesh as well.
‘What do I do?’
The vessel was already at its limit.
Since energy was overflowing from there, it was filling my flesh.
I could roughly contain it up to that point, but if my flesh filled to the brim and burst beyond that.
‘I’ll die by explosion.’
My body, unable to withstand the energy, would burst apart. And the cold energy contained within would spread throughout the Northern Sea once more.
Since the Ice Crystal was already shattered, there would be nothing to stop it.
‘The Northern Sea will become a dead land covered in severe cold.’
Saaaaaa—!! The cold energy continued to burrow into my arms, my back, my entire body.
I could feel my skin freezing over, unable to withstand the heat.
Crackle.
The tips of my fingers stretched toward the Palace Lord froze over.
If I died like this, the Northern Sea was finished.
Recalling this, I clicked my tongue inwardly.
‘That would be a bit troublesome.’
The Northern Sea having problems? I couldn’t care less about that. Honestly, whether it dies or gets covered in cold energy, it has nothing to do with me.
But.
‘The kids are there.’
Uhyeok caused an accident, so it would be fine to leave him be for a while. Paejon is a man who would survive anywhere, so he’s fine too.
You little Sword Demon, if I die, Cheonsalseong will run rampant and become a complete mess, so it would be better to die here.
However, Namgung Bia and Dang Soyeol couldn’t be allowed to end up like that.
‘Then what should I do?’
I’m not afraid of death. That’s what I thought, but if my death caused those two to die here, that was a bit frightening.
Was this attachment?
‘No.’
It seemed more like greed than attachment.
Since the authority obtained by becoming a dragon is called greed. This was indeed greed.
I have so much greed that I can’t just let this be.
‘If I do it.’
If I do, what should I do?
Yangcheon.
Don’t ask that.
You already know the answer yourself.
‘Bastard.’
I laughed without realizing it.
Talking to myself now? I’ve gone completely mad.
Fwoosh—!
I moved the internal energy inside my body.
Swoosh—!!
As if detecting this, the cold energy moved more violently.
The Madocheonheupgong continued trying to devour me even though it knew I was at my limit.
It had eaten so little demonic energy during this time that I wondered if it had gone crazy.
‘Were you that hungry?’
I’ve been too busy lately to feed you demon stones separately. Were you angry because of that?
‘You wouldn’t be thinking of killing your master, right?’
I tried to believe that, but it seemed more like wishful thinking.
The moment I tried to move my internal energy, the amount of cold energy being sucked in increased.
You son of a bitch.
I’d housed you, fed you, and done everything for you without collecting rent all this time, and now you try to kill me like this.
‘Fine, let’s see you try.’
Biting down hard, I exerted force.
Hwarururuk—!!!
Inside my body, the Guyeomhwaryungong spun rapidly.
Energy was still entering through my palm. Applying this energy internally in this state meant that if I made the slightest mistake, I would practically be asking to fall into qi deviation.
‘So what. There’s no other way.’
There was no other way.
Unlike other geniuses, I didn’t know how to delicately apply internal energy.
The only thing I knew how to do was destroy.
‘Let’s see who dies.’
If the cold energy poured in endlessly, I just had to grab and melt it all down.
Cold energy and heat clashed and swirled inside. As the opposing energies collided, waves gradually began to arise.
It was a crazy act. If things went wrong, this was the perfect state to explode or fall into qi deviation.
Even knowing that, I couldn’t stop.
‘I’ll die either way if I lose or if I stop.’
Once I lit the heat, there was no turning back.
I had to somehow trap the cold energy inside my body, or if the heat couldn’t win, I’d freeze or explode to death.
Victory and defeat.
Only those two outcomes existed.
What was curious here was.
‘If I can eat it all, how much would I gain?’
If I succeeded in trapping all this cold energy, how much internal energy would I obtain?
‘Probably at least double.’
It was a storm of internal energy.
As it was an amount no human could normally swallow, if I succeeded in obtaining it, it would look impressive.
Kuguguk—!!
It spun.
The cold energy trying to occupy my vessel and freeze my flesh, and the heat trying to stop it, clumped together and whirled like a tornado.
It was rough and sharp. A sensation of my flesh being torn.
‘But whatever. It’s only this much.’
Fortunately, it was a resistance forged by the Tuapacheonmu. I could laugh off flesh being torn and ripped.
The problem was.
‘The vessel.’
The vessel was full and now reaching its limit.
This was the problem.
If I put in even a little more, it would overflow.
No, it was already overflowing and seeping into my flesh.
Normally, I would have considered this a fortuitous encounter. With good luck, I might have even aimed for bone transformation.
‘But that’s useless to me.’
If it were a moderate amount, maybe, but this was energy my flesh couldn’t handle, and even more was pouring in.
Hwarururuk—!!
‘First, empty the vessel.’
I stoked the heat larger and expelled it. If there was no room, I just had to make room.
Chiiiiik—!!
Smoke rose from my body as if something was cooking. It was from the friction with the cold energy.
The more energy I used to empty, the more cold energy poured into my body.
The two seemed determined to kill each other. At this rate, even the ceiling would cave in.
I trapped the cold energy in the empty space of the vessel.
Kung—! Twisting the flow by force caused a backlash.
“Keollock.”
Thud—! Bursting blood from my mouth soaked the Palace Lord’s chest.
“Huooo…”
As I exhaled, cold energy flowed out. Because I had expelled a considerable amount of heat, the speed at which my body froze accelerated.
My body grew heavier, my breathing slower.
Even so.
‘Somehow my mind is surprisingly clear.’
I didn’t feel much sense of crisis.
I wasn’t afraid, nor was I hesitant.
Kuguk—!
I caught the cold energy with heat. The vessel was full.
My flesh too swelled up on its own, saying it was full.
No matter how much I emptied, it kept refilling, so it was just annoying.
‘Then, I should put it outside first.’
Hwhaaaaak—!!
I grasped the flowing cold energy and swung it outward. The energy twisted and spread widely.
“…Heh.”
I faintly heard Paejon let out a hollow breath.
Did I do something wrong?
‘Who knows.’
Whether I was doing well now. I didn’t know why I was acting like this at all.
For now, I simply moved as my pounding heart and instincts commanded.
Even knowing that a mistake in handling internal energy would kill me, I didn’t hesitate to twist the waves.
Hwiieeee—!!
I spread the energy I couldn’t contain and rapidly spun it.
Putting minute heat into it, even the cold energy moved as if it had become my own energy.
It piled and piled.
The converging flow of cold energy overlapped so much that it began to look like a single membrane.
That was how vast the energy was.
‘Amazing.’
All that energy… and energy that wasn’t even mine, at that, yet I was handling and trapping it using heat.
Without even checking, I just went ahead and did it.
‘If I hesitated or stopped, it would explode immediately.’
Since too much was filling the vessel, I temporarily put it outside.
It was something I did unknowingly with a crazy idea.
‘This works.’
Why does it work?
I couldn’t understand it myself.
But if it works, it’s good. Now was not the time to examine every little thing.
‘What’s important is from now on.’
Swoosh….
A sense of emptiness was felt.
It meant the cold energy that had been pouring for a long time had finally ended.
‘Which means.’
All this heavy energy spread around me now was the entirety of the cold energy that had been spread throughout the Northern Sea.
I didn’t look to check how it was.
Right now, settling the Palace Lord’s cold energy was the priority.
‘Just a bit more.’
Spinning the cold energy to absorb other energies was harder than I thought.
However, it was difficult, not impossible.
Concentrate.
Swoosh—!!
I felt the remaining cold energy. Somehow it seemed hesitant. Looking at that, I smirked.
‘Scared?’
It probably shouldn’t be. For some reason, the energy seemed to be cowering greatly.
‘That’s what you get for messing around. Pissing people off.’
No mercy.
Wrapping all the cold energy with formless internal energy, I sucked it in directly using the Madocheonheupgong.
Shwiiiiik—!!
The last cold energy entered the empty spot in the vessel.
‘It’s over.’
I had absorbed all the Palace Lord’s cold energy. Feeling that, I raised my body.
My stomach felt nauseous from how much energy I had swallowed.
‘Eating too much energy makes my stomach upset. How absurd.’
Should I call this a luxury? It didn’t feel that good.
Moreover.
‘It’s not completely over yet.’
The collected cold energy was still spinning around me. And the energy that had filled my body was still not properly subdued.
I couldn’t even contain this much, so how was I supposed to contain all that energy around me?
‘Should I widen the vessel?’
The vessel was already greatly expanded.
I didn’t know if it was possible to expand it further from here.
‘Then….’
How about the opposite?
Since I couldn’t widen the vessel, I would reduce the volume of what was inside.
Then I could contain it all.
Kkug—!
I clenched my fist.
Thump—! My heart pounded fiercely, and the remaining heat revealed itself.
At the same time, I commanded the heat that had been binding the cold energy in the air.
‘Compress.’
Saaaaaah—!!
The rotation sped up.
The cold energy in the vessel also began to spin, swept up by my energy.
Adding speed, I gradually attempted compression.
The cold energy spinning around me gathered toward me.
As if sensing what I was trying to do, I felt signs of resistance from the cold energy.
“Ha.”
Acting up?
Kkug—!
I applied greater force.
At this, the energy reacted and pounded on the door, threatening to explode immediately.
Thud—! The veins in my eyes burst.
I ignored it.
‘Faster.’
And smaller.
To think I would use the secret of rotation and compression here. I guess what I learned in life wasn’t so bad.
Kiiiiiiing—!!!!
When I felt I had gotten close enough, I opened my clenched fist and adjusted the flow.
Then, the cold energy outside was sucked onto my palm.
Hwoooook—!!
The powerful energy surged, causing wind pressure to burst out.
As I keenly felt the sharp energy.
Wooong.
The cold energy finally clumped into a form resembling a Flame Prison above my hand.
A sphere about the size of a human head.
Overwhelming energy could be felt from within.
Now that I had succeeded in gathering it, it was time to devour it freely.
Kwah—!
Using the Madocheonheupgong on the sphere, I quickly swallowed it.
Since the compression was complete, the energy flowed into my body without much resistance.
The flowing cold energy naturally settled in my heart, merging with the Palace Lord’s cold energy.
The moment I felt this.
“Huoo—!”
Hwarurururuk—!!!!
I ignited flames inside and poured them over the cold energy.
It was to purify the cold energy.
An enormous amount of cold energy. Compared to it, the flame was infinitely small.
Even so.
‘I can do it.’
My flame would not lose to that.
I felt that conviction.
Kung—! Kungkungkung—!!!
It was a violent struggle. If done wrong, the vessel could shatter without surprise.
My frozen, sluggish flesh was also a problem, and the small amount of heat made it even harder.
But.
‘You’re greedy. You should devour even this much.’
If you can’t even eat this much, how will you eat other things?
Hwarururuk—!!!!
I continued to ignite flames.
If the firepower seemed lacking, I would even use innate qi.
Kyaaaa—!!
The flame full of greed relentlessly devoured the cold energy. The cold energy rampaged to survive, but.
‘Behave and stay still.’
My flame bit into it repeatedly as if swinging fists.
And when some time had passed.
“…Huu….”
I barely managed to exhale and open my eyes.
“Ah.”
Trickle.
Feeling something flow, I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand.
My body was drenched in sweat.
“…”
I raised my hand slightly to check.
Hwaruk—!
Flames flared up, and soon I created a small Flame Prison, then casually threw it at the empty ground.
That tiny, tiny Flame Prison flew far and fell to the ground.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaah—!!!
Contrary to its appearance, it caused an enormous explosion.
“Hm.”
Seeing the ground being swept up in the explosion, I was finally convinced.
That my internal energy had surpassed the prime of my previous life.
Furthermore.
“…I have reached Nine-Tenths.”
The heart technique of the Guyeomhwaryungong had finally reached Nine-Tenths.
Which meant.
My level had finally surpassed that of my previous life.