The Tower's Trial: Floor 14. Mid-Boss

'Damn it...'

This isn't an ethical question of whether to save several people or one.

'Even if I choose the Shaolin abbot, can I restore him?'

As you go through the Tower's Trials, choices like this occasionally appear. They force you to gamble in situations where you can't predict what will happen even an inch ahead.

The incident has already begun, and I have to choose before it's too late.

What you need at times like this is ultimately experience and instinct.

'Even if I save these people, I won't be able to stop the Blood Demon, the final boss. At best, I can only buy some time.'

I've made up my mind.

High risk, high return.

"Chief, we'll hold them off here!!"

"I heard you learned martial arts in the Western Regions, and you're perfectly fine... Go on! We'll hold out here as long as we can!!"

The Azure Dragon Escort Agency chief and the other wandering fighters fight desperately.

In the distance, I can also see Zhang San struggling against a single Blood Jiangshi.

'Phew...'

I leave them behind and dash off.

Along the way, fallen monks bleeding from their wounds mark my path. It seems the Qi-Dispersing Poison has spread throughout Shaolin Temple; they died while trying to flee without even being able to resist.

Following the corpses, I eventually arrive at a building.

[Abbot's Quarters]

The center of Shaolin Temple.

An ordinary building, not as large as I expected, comes into view.

Crash!! Fwoosh!!!

I follow the sounds of something breaking and flesh being torn apart inside.

By the time I enter, the building is already drenched in blood.

"Stop!!"

A man I presume to be Namgung Myeong-il is holding a senior monk aloft with one hand, while the other holds a blood-dripping knife.

He turns his head to the side when he hears my voice.

"Ah, Miss? You finally made it?"

The handsome image I'd seen during the day is nowhere to be found; a blood-maddened murderer stands in its place.

His body has grown to about one and a half times its original size, and his hands have become pointed at the ends like a monster's. His blue eyes have already turned completely red.

"Just wait a moment. Once I kill the abbot, you can come with me too..."

"What? No!!!"

When he grabs the senior monk by the neck with one hand and walks toward a door sealed by a yellow, barrier-like device, I run over and stab him in the back with my spear.

He throws away the senior monk he was holding and swiftly twists his body sideways to dodge.

"You... attacked me? Why?"

"..."

'He's fast.'

He definitely didn't seem this strong when I saw him during the day, but it feels like he has grown stronger through some sort of power.

"Fine, that's okay. Even if I lose a limb or two, I can just attach them back on!!"

Whoosh!

With tremendous wind pressure, his body closes in right before my eyes in an instant.

'Is he going to ram me?'

Instead of bracing myself, I smoothly yield to the immense force.

Wham!

With the powerful body slam, I go flying, smash through the building wall, and don't stop until I've rolled dozens of meters outside.

Even without using internal energy, my body is sturdy, so I don't suffer much damage.

In fact, this is better. A spear is more advantageous in an open space like this than in a cramped one.

"Heh heh heh... As expected, you're sturdy."

He slowly walks out through the hole in the shattered wall.

"Are you alone?"

I stand up, level my spear at him, and ask.

"What, trying to extract information? Heh heh heh... Fine, I'll tell you. Yes, I'm alone here."

He smiles as if asking whether I have anything else to ask and beckons me to continue. It's a gesture that dismisses me as though whatever I learn from him will be useless anyway.

'That bastard...'

My blood pressure rises slightly, but I calmly ask another question.

"Where's the Blood Demon?"

"Ah... He'll be here soon. I asked him to give me a chance."

"A chance?"

"He promised. If I definitely kill the Shaolin abbot this time, he'll save the person I want, just as he saved me."

"Is that... supposed to be me?"

Is this guy completely obsessed with women?

"Yes, that's right. I did all this for you. I've been like this for a long time... for you, and only to have you. Heh heh heh..."

"You lunatic..."

There's no need to listen any longer. I was worried this might be a diversionary tactic by the Blood Demon, but apparently this guy acted on his own.

'Then this guy must be the mid-boss.'

"What, are you done asking questions? Then I'm off!!"

Bang!!

The stones on the ground shatter as he charges over, tearing through the air.

'As expected, he's fast.'

If this had been in the past, I might have had trouble even reacting.

But I have <Buff Stacking>, the reward I obtained on Floor 13.

'I'll burn through all my holy power.'

[Haste]

[Haste]

[Haste]

[Haste]

[Haste]

[Haste]

In an instant, I stack Haste six times, increasing my Agility by 90. The world slows down.

It feels as though time itself has slowed.

I can see his confident expression.

I can effortlessly calculate his stance, trajectory, and even the time remaining until impact.

I place my spear along his charging path.

"Kahahahaha!! That won't stop me!!"

I can see every tiny movement of his muscles.

'Not yet.'

[Strength]

[Strength]

[Strength]

[Strength]

I squeeze out my remaining holy power and amplify my strength in an instant.

As his right ankle turns slightly to the right,

I pull back my spear and thrust hard to the right.

"Huh?"

The startled man's eyes widen.

The spear and his body gradually draw closer.

His body bends to the right to evade the spear,

but as if it knows the future, the spear follows him like a magnet and pierces his heart.

Thwack!!

It passes through his tough skin, breaks his ribs, and pierces his heart.

"Ghk!!"

I pierce clean through his heart, but he doesn't stop.

'A guy like this usually has regeneration and resurrection.'

I pull the spear from his heart—

Thrust thrust thrust thrust thrust thrust!!!

In an instant, I rapidly stab his entire body.

A barrage of rapid thrusts.

Rather than aiming at specific points, I use instinctive senses to rapidly stab vital joints and pressure points.

His body is riddled with holes all at once, and his limbs are torn off.

He loses the momentum of his charge and falls backward.

One second.

The mid-boss who had plunged Shaolin Temple into terror collapses anticlimactically after a single clash.

"Ghk, cough!! Wh-why..."

'As expected, even this doesn't kill him.'

Though his limbs have been severed and his heart, lungs, and every other organ in his torso have been destroyed, he still doesn't die.

I stand beside him with my spear to finish him off.

"N-no... Do-hee! Don't do this. You can never defeat the Blood Demon. Joining me is the only path to salvation!! It's not too late even now!!!"

Lying on the floor and vomiting blood, he speaks desperately. He probably genuinely believes this is the only path to salvation.

Once someone falls into a mistaken ideology, they believe they're right about everything.

It's sad and pitiful.

"Goodbye..."

"Ah, why... Now every obstacle standing between you and me is gone..."

Could the obstacle have been his own family?

Namgung Myeong-il, who became obsessed with a woman, joined hands with the Blood Demon, and took the lives of countless people, including his own family.

I raise the tip of my spear to his forehead.

"No, don't!! Do-hee, do you know how much I've... Aaaaaagh!!!"

I slowly push the spear in.

It cuts through his skin and presses against his skull.

"Aaaagh!! Do-hee!! Noooo!!"

Ignoring his writhing in agony, I apply force once more.

Crack... crack!!

His skull cracks, and the spear digs through the gap, shattering it.

With a wet sound, his brain is destroyed, and that is the end of him.

"Phew... You shouldn't let yourselves get bewitched by a woman and end up like this, either."

I find the camera, say my piece, and dash back to the abbot's quarters.

The red moon is still hanging in the sky.

The Blood Demon will arrive soon. Before that happens, I have to do something about the Shaolin abbot.

For a moment, I consider going outside again to help the others, but either way, I would end up unable to restore the Shaolin abbot.

A strange energy blocks the inner part of the abbot's quarters.

"Hello? Are you all right?"

I approach the senior monk who survived Namgung Myeong-il's attack and ask.

"Ugh... I'm fine. My throat is a little sore, but otherwise there's nothing wrong. More importantly... everyone is dead."

He looks around bitterly.

Whether intentional or not, the senior monks' bodies have been cruelly torn into pieces and scattered around.

"Phew... May they all be reborn in the Pure Land... Amitabha."

"Amitabha..."

I press my palms together like the senior monk and wait quietly while he chants a prayer.

He finishes as quickly as possible and asks what I want to know.

"I see you want to enter this room. Are you curious about the abbot's condition?"

At Shaolin Temple, the abbot is usually called the zhuji.

His words make me flinch slightly, but I answer honestly. If not now, I may not get another chance.

"Yes. I want to see the abbot's condition myself and try to treat him if possible."

"Ho... You want to attempt what even Hua Tuo couldn't? For your information, this formation was created through the combined power of the abbot and the Eight Guardian Protectors (八大護院). He granted us authority to deactivate it in an emergency, but now that the abbot has succumbed to qi deviation and I am the only one of the Eight Guardian Protectors left, once I deactivate it, I won't be able to create it again. You understand what that means."

"......"

'As expected, is it impossible...?'

Breaking through by force isn't possible either.

An ominous formation has been deployed around the room where the abbot is presumed to be.

Moreover, I have only one chance to deactivate the formation.

If I fail to treat him, the abbot, having fallen into qi deviation, will be left completely exposed to the Blood Cult's attack.

And even if I break through, can I really do what even Hua Tuo couldn't?

To begin with, obviously, there's no way they'll allow a woman dressed like a prostitute to enter...

"Very well, I'll allow you in."

"As expected... Huh?"

What...?

Did I hear that wrong?

"Yes...?"

"But there's one condition. May I touch your breasts once?"

"......Whaaat?"

What is this...

I'm so dumbfounded I can't even speak.

Was this one of the elite Eight Guardian Protectors guarding Shaolin's abbot actually a dirty old monk desperate to sexually harass a woman!?

"Th-that shameless... act.... B-but... it can't be helped. T-touch them! Mm... yes, this can't be helped..."

When I blush, thrust my breasts forward, and approach him, he instead becomes flustered.

"W-wait! I think you've got a strange misunderstanding!"

"What? Wasn't I supposed to pay with my body?"

"Sigh, this is bad... I'm sorry. I left out too much. Since I have to explain it once we're inside anyway, I'll tell you everything now. Don't misunderstand me—listen."

'Oh, so I wasn't going to be forced to let him touch my breasts...'

I don't know why I feel somewhat disappointed, but for now I silently listen to him.

"Let's see... I should explain this first. The martial art the abbot is currently practicing is the Child Monk Technique."

Child Monk Technique.

It is a martial art that grants tremendous internal energy in exchange for voluntarily becoming a eunuch by refraining from sexual intercourse.

"Do you know why there aren't any monks who reached a high level after mastering the Child Monk Technique?"

"Hmm..."

Come to think of it, I've never heard of anyone becoming the greatest under heaven by practicing the Child Monk Technique. That is true even though it is a cultivation method that accumulates internal energy rapidly.

"Because they can't overcome their lust halfway through...?"

"Of course, that's an important reason, but that only applies before they even reach the Transcendent level. The more one trains in the Child Monk Technique, the less sexual desire one feels. And once one reaches the Transformation stage, having sex doesn't make all one's internal energy disappear."

"Then what is the reason?"

"There is a hurdle that comes once along the way. Internal energy that has grown excessively large compared to one's realm. Moreover, pure yang energy becomes so abundant that even the practitioner can't withstand it, and it gradually burns the body. Most commonly, people fall into qi deviation while passing from the Transformation stage to the Profound stage, where they remain stuck for the longest time."

"Then what should we do? If he fell into qi deviation on his own, is there any way to treat him?"

"Actually...... there is. People usually say the only way is to somehow control the yang energy and overcome it oneself, but there is a method that can not only pull one out of qi deviation in secret but also raise one's cultivation by an entire stage!"

"What is... that?"

The monk suddenly turns his gaze to the side and speaks after a brief hesitation.

"Ahem, ahem, that would be... Absorbing Yin to Nourish Yang..."

"Huh?"

Isn't that something only a lecherous fiend, a public enemy of the martial world, would use?

"Don't get any strange ideas... Doing this won't kill or injure the woman."

"Really? Then why isn't this method used? Couldn't one just embrace a woman and be done with it?"

"It is useless with an ordinary woman. There are conditions. We need a woman with an utterly pure yin energy and an amount of yin energy comparable to the abbot's yang energy. Do you understand now why this is a secret? Even if people knew about it, they couldn't use it, so no one ever bothered to say it aloud. If anything, it would only damage Shaolin's reputation."

"......"

Right, finding a female master with enough yin energy to match the excessive yang energy built up by the Child Monk Technique would be difficult, and at that level, they would all likely be older, meaning they might have a husband or feel reluctant to have sex for the sake of propriety.

To possess utterly pure yin energy, one would have to master Taoist or Buddhist martial arts without mixing in any other attributes, and that would hardly be easy. In the first place, most such sects don't even accept women.

"The extreme yang energy is soothed by extreme yin energy. And it isn't merely soothed. The suppression of sexual desire and the extreme yang energy of the Child Monk Technique both go against the laws of nature. The laws of nature instead lie in the union of yin and yang and the urge to reproduce. Every living thing reproduces; don't you think it's strange that the Child Monk Technique rejects that? That's why qi deviation occurs. And the moment one escapes it and follows the natural laws of yin-yang union and reproductive instinct, one comprehends harmony and the principles of nature, causing an enormous rise in cultivation."

"Th-that... is true. The urge to reproduce is a well-known law of nature..."

"Of course, there could be bad results if the two are incompatible, so we argued back and forth until yesterday over whether to use this method... but now there is no one left to debate with."

"To sum it up... I enter this room and exchange... yang and yin energy with the abbot by doing that thing, right?"

"That's right. Once someone has reached the Transformation stage or higher through the Child Monk Technique, having intercourse with a woman won't cause them to lose their internal energy, so go in and enjoy yourselves to your heart's content."

Enjoy ourselves to our heart's content...

"In that case, take off your clothes."

"Yes... Huh?"

"Didn't I explain why earlier? You seem to have unusual qi in both breasts, but I can't determine how much just by looking. If you're not a suitable woman, it could be dangerous for both of you."

"So...?"

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up, strip naked and bare your breasts! Every second counts! I have to touch those huge bare breasts myself to know!"

'You really do have to touch them to know...?'