"Ugh! Ugh! Cough! Ah, I’m dying!"
Seo Ryang collapsed backward, his body drenched in sweat. Ma Dong-pil hurriedly approached him.
"Young Master! Are you alright?"
"You—cough! Do I—cough! Look alright to you? Cough!"
Ma Dong-pil quickly checked his limbs. His skin was flushed red, a clear sign of how much energy he had expended.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Cough! No. Cough! No, no."
His breathing was ragged. It seemed he had drained every last bit of his demonic energy from his dantian. Ma Dong-pil let out a sigh of relief.
But it didn’t last long.
"Young Master."
"Cough! What? Cough!"
"That martial technique earlier… What kind of technique was it?"
"Ugh! You brat, I can’t even breathe, and you’re asking me questions. Cough!"
"Ah, my apologies. Please forgive me."
Seo Ryang closed his eyes tightly and focused on his breathing. Normally, he would have answered, but he seemed truly exhausted.
Ma Dong-pil turned his head.
Grrr.
Manggeuk, the beast, was baring its teeth and clawing at the ground.
But it didn’t dare step outside the bamboo forest. It cautiously extended its front paw, only to jerk it back in fear, repeating the motion until it settled for clawing the ground.
And around Manggeuk…
Sssss.
The corpses of snakes were slowly sinking into the ground.
Ma Dong-pil swallowed hard.
If things had gone wrong, those fangs would have pierced the Young Master’s body.
What would have happened then? If a person were bitten by those snakes, whose fangs could evaporate all moisture in an area just by crawling, what would become of them?
‘Their blood and moisture would drain completely, turning them into a mummy.’
Just imagining it was horrifying. It would be better to be torn apart by Manggeuk’s claws.
At the same time, he recalled the single strike Seo Ryang had used to cut down all those snakes.
Shiver!
Ma Dong-pil unconsciously touched his neck.
‘That was an incredible slash.’
He couldn’t comprehend how a human body could rotate so quickly or how such a slash was possible.
It was like a whirlwind that swept through everything in its path.
‘It was as if everything was sucked in.’
It didn’t seem like a defensive move but rather an offensive one. The snakes, and even the sturdy bamboo, were drawn into the whirlwind named Seo Ryang and met their doom.
It was a martial technique he had never seen before, something beyond imagination.
"Ugh."
At that moment, Seo Ryang sat up.
Ma Dong-pil quickly approached him.
"How are you? Do you have enough stamina?"
"Of course. Thanks to you, Young Master."
"Then stand guard for me."
"Yes."
Ma Dong-pil chose his words carefully.
Honestly, he felt quite ashamed. As a bodyguard, he had been protected by the very person he was supposed to guard. What kind of humiliation was that?
The truly miserable part was knowing that if the roles were reversed, he wouldn’t have been able to protect Seo Ryang in the same way.
Clench.
Blood dripped from his tightly clenched fist, which had turned white from the force.
‘No distractions. Focus on protecting the Young Master.’
How much time had passed since Seo Ryang entered his meditation and Ma Dong-pil guarded the forest entrance?
Twitch.
Ma Dong-pil looked down at his chest.
‘Ah.’
In his haste, he had forgotten about this little one.
He reached into his robe.
Plop.
He lifted the little fox by the scruff of its neck, and it dangled in the air.
Yawn.
It stretched its mouth wide open in a yawn, which was quite adorable. Its front paws wriggled as if searching for its mother, making anyone who saw it smile.
Ma Dong-pil sighed deeply.
‘You’ve had it easy, haven’t you?’
Just then.
The little fox, still yawning and showing off its tiny teeth, suddenly looked toward the entrance of the bamboo forest.
Twitch!
Manggeuk lowered its stance.
Sss.
‘Huh?’
Ma Dong-pil blinked.
What? He had been holding the scruff of its neck tightly. When did it slip out?
The little fox, now on the ground, waddled on its short legs toward the forest entrance.
Grrr.
Manggeuk’s stance lowered even further.
Ma Dong-pil unconsciously opened his mouth.
"Danger…"
Huh?
"...isn’t it?"
He blurted out something foolish without realizing it, his gaze fixed on the entrance.
Sss. Sss.
Led by Manggeuk, the green vipers and other beasts slowly retreated.
They whimpered and backed away as if terrified, a stark contrast to their earlier frenzy when they had charged at Seo Ryang’s blade without fear.
Ma Dong-pil’s expression twisted strangely.
‘…Why are they acting like this?’
It didn’t make sense.
Standing behind them, Ma Dong-pil couldn’t see what was happening.
The little fox’s eyes, which he had seen as a shimmering black, were now glowing with a dazzling array of colors.
He couldn’t comprehend the majesty emanating from those five-colored demon eyes, nor why mythical creatures would retreat in fear.
As the beasts disappeared from sight, the little fox turned around.
"Hmm?"
It waddled toward Seo Ryang.
Ma Dong-pil quickly grabbed the scruff of its neck.
"No."
The little fox struggled in dissatisfaction, but Ma Dong-pil was firm. Even if the Young Master had ordered him to protect it, there were limits.
"You can’t disturb the Young Master. Stay in my arms."
He tucked the little fox back into his robe. After a few more struggles, it finally gave up and slumped down.
How much time had passed?
Whoosh.
Ma Dong-pil’s eyes lit up.
Sssss.
A deep red demonic energy surged from Seo Ryang’s body as he sat in meditation. The intensity of the energy was enough to send chills down one’s spine.
‘Incredible. How can he produce such energy…’
It wasn’t about the quantity.
There was a limit to the concentration of demonic energy one could draw from spiritual energy. The energy Seo Ryang was emitting now was so profound that it couldn’t be achieved without a deep understanding of demonic arts.
Ma Dong-pil was genuinely curious.
‘What kind of person is the Young Master?’
Even after eight months of serving him, there was still much he didn’t know.
How did he possess such vast knowledge? How did he grow so strong so quickly? Where did he learn to apply martial techniques so creatively?
And… what was the unique martial art that allowed him to emit this red demonic energy?
‘It’s definitely not from our sect.’
That was his intuition. While it carried the scent of orthodox demonic arts, there was an unfamiliar quality to it. It wasn’t the demonic arts of the Divine Sect.
Yet, it carried a depth rarely seen in any demonic art.
‘If the Sect Leader were to personally teach the Young Master now…’
Ma Dong-pil unconsciously swallowed.
‘He might become the youngest Sect Leader in our history.’
It might be an overreach, but after eight months of observing him, the Young Master seemed to possess something beyond mere talent.
Ma Dong-pil shook his head.
‘No wild thoughts. I just need to focus on my duty. The future of the sect is for those involved to decide. It’s not my place to worry.’
That was the proper attitude for a guard captain. Ma Dong-pil roughly shook his head to clear his thoughts and focused on guarding the surroundings.
Time passed.
One moment, two moments, half an hour.
Before he knew it, an hour had flown by, and the sun was beginning to set.
‘He’s taking longer than usual. Is it because he expended so much energy?’
Normally, his meditation would end in half an hour, or even quicker.
Ma Dong-pil smiled bitterly.
‘He pushed himself too hard.’
Just then.
Whoosh!!
Ma Dong-pil’s eyes widened.
The red demonic energy rising from Seo Ryang’s body intensified.
Sssss!
The oppressive aura doubled in strength.
"Ugh!"
Drip.
Cold sweat dripped from Ma Dong-pil’s forehead.
The sudden surge of demonic energy overwhelmed his own. It felt like standing before a tiger, his legs trembling and his heart racing.
Without realizing it, he had retreated over ten steps, his face pale.
‘What is this?!’
What on earth was happening?
Sssss!
A faint white smoke began to rise from the ground where Seo Ryang sat.
The dark shadow demonic energy, filled with yang intensity, gradually heated up before exploding with a burst of fiery power.
Whoosh!!
Seo Ryang was enveloped in crimson flames.
Surprisingly, his expression remained calm. Despite the heat that would suffocate anyone within ten steps, not a single strand of his hair or a fold of his clothing was singed.
It was a mystifying sight.
But contrary to appearances, the atmosphere around him grew increasingly menacing as time passed.
Whoosh!
The flames spread slowly.
At the same time, the air in the ancient bamboo forest rippled violently.
Swoosh!
Ma Dong-pil felt his breathing grow labored.
It wasn’t due to the heat of the shadow demonic energy. Nor was it because the air was burning.
It was the depletion of spiritual energy in the air.
The vast amount of spiritual energy scattered around was being sucked into Seo Ryang’s body at an alarming rate. The speed was so fast that even a skilled martial artist like Ma Dong-pil felt dizzy.
A moment later.
Flash!
Seo Ryang’s eyes opened.
Whoosh!
The air instantly cooled. The intense demonic energy was rapidly being absorbed back into Seo Ryang’s body.
The energy that had gathered in his lower dantian could no longer find space and began to rise to his middle dantian.
Sssss!
"Ugh!"
A groan escaped Seo Ryang’s lips.
The chest area of his robe burned away in a circular pattern. The demonic energy was spinning at high speed, condensing his qi.
But even that had its limits.
After filling both the lower and middle dantians, the energy still overflowed.
Thump!
Seo Ryang’s body twitched uncontrollably. The energy, unable to find more space, began to force its way through his meridians, even breaking through the finer channels.
Every meridian in his body was instantly opened. It was as easy and quick as pressing tofu with a hand. The heat of the shadow demonic energy numbed the pain of the process.
Whoosh!
The swirling energy.
Having filled his entire body, the energy finally found one last vessel.
The upper dantian.
The place where the soul resides, and if properly refined, can unleash divine abilities—the highest potential reservoir in the human body.
The energy penetrated his upper dantian.
Whoosh!!
"Ahhh!"
A scream erupted from Seo Ryang’s mouth. Even someone who rarely flinched at pain writhed in agony.
But the pain was brief.
Fortunately, Seo Ryang’s upper dantian had enough capacity to contain the remaining energy.
"Cough!"
After spitting out a mouthful of dark red blood, Seo Ryang collapsed.
Ma Dong-pil’s eyes widened.
"Young Master!"
He quickly approached Seo Ryang and let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, his pulse was normal.
Plop.
The little fox peeked out from Ma Dong-pil’s robe and quietly watched Seo Ryang.
The beast’s eyes were inscrutable. Within its pupils, a dazzling array of colors flickered faintly.
And so, the two humans and one beast completely left the bamboo forest.
Seo Ryang, who had grown by battling imaginary creatures for eight months, had now reached a level of strength incomparable to his past self, having trained in martial arts in ways that seemed possible only in imagination.
Three days later.
"Third Captain?"
"Have you been well?"
Ma Dong-pil knelt and bowed his head, his expression unreadable.
Mu Dam’s eyes deepened. He could sense a significant change in Ma Dong-pil compared to a month ago when he had last reported.
"Have you come to report?"
"I’ve come to deliver a message."
"A message? What is it?"
Ma Dong-pil raised his head.
His gaze, though calm, was filled with an intense aura that even Mu Dam, the Grand Protector, found startling.
"The Third Young Master has left the forest."
"…!"
"He intends to head straight to the Demon God Palace. Please inform the Sect Leader and request permission for his entry."