Chapter 34
In a world of endless darkness, a sword path appeared before Dokgo Ryeong’s eyes.
Whoosh!
Six forms to mislead the enemy and open the way for a thrust.
False Form (虛招).
And then, a finishing form to take the life of an opponent misled by those six forms.
Finishing Form (絶招).
But something about it felt lacking.
‘Is this all there is to it?’
Sun-Shooting Sword Art.
A sword art born from the legend of Hou Yi, the master archer who shot down nine of the ten suns—the sons of the Heavenly Emperor—after they playfully decided to shine down on the earth all at once, tormenting the people with unbearable heat.
Recalling the legend, Dokgo Ryeong naturally imagined a final finishing form to complement the original seven forms.
The final finishing form was probably the climax of the legend: shooting down nine suns.
‘Hou Yi Shoots the Suns (后羿射日)’
Dokgo Ryeong’s arm moved, completing a sword path that thrust toward nine lethal acupoints on the body at once.
‘Is it still not enough?’
The sword path she had created would have seemed impressive to anyone else, but something about it still felt lacking.
Just as Dokgo Ryeong moved again to refine the form, her world began to shake.
Feeling herself float up into the air and then fall, Dokgo Ryeong opened her eyes.
“Ah… fuck.”
“You’re awake, Ryeong?”
Along with the swaying floor, she felt something soft beneath the back of her head.
The first thing she saw when she looked up was two swelling mounds concealed beneath white clothes.
When Dokgo Ryeong lightly tapped one of the mounds with her hand, Baekri Sohyeon’s face popped into view above it.
“…Where am I?”
“On the ship. How are you feeling? Gwan-yeong was a little worried about you.”
“Ah, fuck.”
Only then did Dokgo Ryeong remember.
She remembered challenging Eun Gwan-yeong to a fight at the inn, only to be counterattacked and lose consciousness.
“Haa… damn it.”
“Does it hurt a lot?”
“…No. Just get me some water.”
“Okay.”
When Dokgo Ryeong sat up, Baekri Sohyeon stood and went to get her some water.
With her mind still foggy from just waking up, Dokgo Ryeong recalled the dream she’d had.
‘…What was that?’
It felt as though she’d caught a glimpse of the final finishing form of the Sun-Shooting Sword Art.
But it was only a form.
Without using inner energy alongside it, it was hollow—a half-finished sword art that amounted to little more than imitation.
‘It was definitely… like this…’
The moment Dokgo Ryeong moved, trying to remember even a fragment of the finishing form she’d grasped in her dream, she quickly noticed something was wrong with her body.
‘Ah, fuck. Why won’t it move again…?’
The yin energy in her lower dantian, which had been moving just fine, had settled back into place and wouldn’t budge.
She tried drawing on the yang energy in her upper dantian, located at her Tianhui acupoint, but that crazy yin energy went wild again and tried to devour it, so Dokgo Ryeong eventually gave up.
Just then, someone entered the cabin.
“Ah, you’re awake.”
“…Lust Demon.”
It was Wi Ilcheong.
*
Wi Ilcheong sat across from Dokgo Ryeong with a tea set and brewed some tea.
“Where’s Blockhead?”
“She went to look at the sea with Miss Eun. She’d wanted to see it from the ship, but she’d been too worried about you to enjoy the view.”
“…”
Feeling a little bad for Baekri Sohyeon, Dokgo Ryeong scratched her cheek.
“More importantly, I came to ask you something.”
“There’s something I want to ask you first.”
“I suspect it’s the same question.”
They spoke at the same time.
“What about No Geuk-myeong?” “How did you catch him?”
Wi Ilcheong spoke first.
“I sealed No Geuk-myeong’s acupoints and left him in a nearby forest. He should be awake by now.”
“…What are the chances he’ll come after us?”
“High, I’d say. But isn’t that better than killing him and making an enemy for life?”
“Fuck… That doesn’t sit right with me.”
“What about you, Miss Dokgo?”
“…”
Dokgo Ryeong pondered for a moment.
‘How much should I tell him?’
Anyone living in the martial world was always told to hide thirty percent of their strength.
But that was only possible if you knew exactly how strong you were.
“…First, about No Geuk-myeong.”
“Yes?”
“I did subdue him. But that bastard was weaker than I expected.”
“…That can’t be right. He’s Senior No Sun-pyeong’s son. He’s considered one of the most promising members of the younger generation. How could he be weak?”
“People’s reputations and what they’re actually like when you meet them are different. Don’t you think?”
“That doesn’t change the objective facts.”
Wi Ilcheong pointed at the floor as he spoke.
“I saw the dent left in the floor of the inn. From what I saw, it’s not that No Geuk-myeong is weak, but that you’re strong, Miss Dokgo.”
“Ah, fuck.”
Dokgo Ryeong smacked her forehead.
“Right. That was there.”
“…Were you trying to deceive me?”
“You have to know what you’re hiding to pull off a deception. I don’t know either.”
“Pardon?”
“That bastard suddenly attacked me, and I subdued him. For some reason, I was able to use my inner energy, so I subdued him.”
“…May I check your pulse?”
“Go ahead.”
Thinking she had nothing to hide, Dokgo Ryeong held out her arm to him.
“Then, just a moment…”
As Wi Ilcheong felt her pulse, Dokgo Ryeong’s shoulder twitched slightly.
“Ugh…”
“Are you uncomfortable?”
“Ah… no. Keep going.”
“…Yes. Please tell me if you feel uncomfortable.”
Feeling inner energy gradually flow from Wi Ilcheong’s hand, Dokgo Ryeong sensed something strange.
‘No, fuck… why…?’
As Wi Ilcheong leaned closer to feel her pulse, her heart suddenly thumped.
Even though she was only holding out her arm to let him check her pulse, her face turned red for no reason.
‘Did I catch a cold…?’
Dokgo Ryeong closed her eyes, trying to ignore the strange sensation she was feeling.
As she felt Wi Ilcheong’s true qi circulate through her meridians, her lower dantian throbbed.
“Hey… Lust Demon.”
“Please be quiet for a moment…”
“Take your hand off. Now.”
“Pardon?”
“Take your qi back! Hurry!”
At Dokgo Ryeong’s urgent words, Wi Ilcheong withdrew his qi and let go of her arm.
“Why did you do that, Miss Dokgo?”
“…Just a moment. I’m trying to make sense of this.”
The moment Wi Ilcheong’s true qi entered Dokgo Ryeong’s body, the yin energy in her lower dantian began to move.
Startled by the sudden surge of yin energy and worried it might affect Wi Ilcheong too, she’d told him to stop. But this was the first time anything like this had happened, and she was utterly flustered.
“Th-the yin energy in my lower dantian suddenly…”
“Ah, that’s only natural.”
“Huh?”
“You were startled because the yin energy in your lower dantian started to boil, weren’t you?”
“Uh… yes, but how do you know that?”
“Your lust must have stirred. That’s a relief. It seems you’ve started adapting to the Sunü Jing as well, Miss Dokgo.”
“…”
Dokgo Ryeong sat blankly for a moment, turning Wi Ilcheong’s words over in her mind.
‘My lust stirred? And that made the yin energy move?’
In other words, when she received Wi Ilcheong’s energy, she’d wanted to do something lewd.
Once the thought sank in, Dokgo Ryeong’s face grew so red it felt ready to burst.
“There’s no need to be so embarrassed. It’s perfectly natural…”
“Die!!!”
“Guh!”
As Dokgo Ryeong swung a fist, Wi Ilcheong hurriedly dodged it, flustered.
“Oh… Miss Dokgo, you’re using your inner energy naturally again…”
“Shut up and die!!”
“Your hair’s turned pale pink again, too—ugh! Quite a fierce punch! You really are talented at hand-to-hand combat…”
“Kyaaaah!!”
Dokgo Ryeong’s rampage continued until Baekri Sohyeon and Eun Gwan-yeong came to stop her after hearing the commotion from the cabin.
“Haa… haa… Fuck!!”
“Ah, I told you to use nice words, didn’t I?”
“Shut up!”
“Hiiing…”
“Ryeong, just calm down a little…”
“Kyaaaah!!!”
“…”
Even with Baekri Sohyeon hugging Dokgo Ryeong and stroking her head to soothe her, she couldn’t calm down easily.
‘I… I… fuck!!!’
Her lust had stirred?
For a man?
Every time that thought crossed her mind, Dokgo Ryeong’s face grew red enough to burst.
Overcome with shame and unable to bear it, she’d tried to throw herself into the sea several times. Even after the others stopped her each time, she still couldn’t calm down.
Watching Dokgo Ryeong’s face turn red as she breathed heavily, then return to its normal color, Baekri Sohyeon asked,
“What happened, Ryeong?”
“…”
“If you don’t tell me, I won’t know…”
“That’s right… It’s hard on us too when you go on a rampage like that every time.”
“Fuck…”
Dokgo Ryeong stared at the door of the cabin Wi Ilcheong had left.
After seeing her charge at Wi Ilcheong as though she meant to kill him, Baekri Sohyeon and Eun Gwan-yeong had ushered him outside, so only women were in the room now.
‘…My lust stirs, and then the yin energy moves?’
Dokgo Ryeong needed inner energy.
Inner energy was essential to protecting herself.
Only then could she perform fa jin, the foundation of all martial arts.
And her body contained an enormous amount of pure yin energy, enough to overwhelm all but the most exceptional masters.
To move that energy, her lust had to be stirred.
Was this really how it was supposed to work?
Back when she was the Mad Demon, Dokgo Jin, she’d deliberately kept her distance from women and had never once let her lust get the better of her.
That was why this feeling was so unfamiliar—and even frightening.
“…Aren’t you going to tell us, Ryeong?”
“Um…”
“Come on, tell your big sister everything.”
“Haa… fuck.”
In the end, unable to hold in her frustration, Dokgo Ryeong scratched her head roughly and started to speak.
“I… fuck… haa… fuck…”
“Take your time, Ryeong.”
“…When you two… do that thing. You know. That.”
“That thing?”
“What thing do you mean?”
“No… fuck…”
Blushing with embarrassment, Dokgo Ryeong lowered her head and mumbled.
“Th-the yin-yang union.”
“Oh, yes. Why?”
“…Does your lust stir even when you’re not doing that?”
“Of course.”
“It does.”
“Huh?”
Startled, Dokgo Ryeong lifted her head.
“No, I mean… even normally?”
“Of course. Not all day long, but I’m aroused the whole time except when I’m asleep.”
“Mm… I just wait for night to come.”
“…You lewd women.”
“Is it because of the Sunü Jing?”
When Baekri Sohyeon mentioned the Sunü Jing, as if she’d read Dokgo Ryeong’s mind, Dokgo Ryeong quickly lifted her head.
“H-how did you know?”
“After something happened between you and Big Brother Wi, your hair turned pink, you suddenly used some inner energy, and you brought up lewd things you’d never talked about before.”
“…Fuck.”
“Ryeong.”
“What?”
Baekri Sohyeon hugged Dokgo Ryeong tightly from behind and pressed gently against her lower abdomen.
“Does it throb here?”
“…Sometimes.”
“I see. Hehe.”
“…Why are you laughing?”
“Nothing. It just made me realize you’re a woman too, Ryeong.”
“What’s that supposed to…!”
“It happens to me too.”
Baekri Sohyeon’s breath brushed Dokgo Ryeong’s neck, tickling her.
“The Sunü Jing is… a cultivation method that harmonizes a man’s yang energy with a woman’s yin energy.”
“…And?”
“It increases the efficiency of storing qi and boosts the man’s inner energy, but it also purifies the woman’s inner energy.”
“…”
“As the first step, a woman’s body has to be ready to receive a man’s yang energy. You’re ready now, Ryeong.”
“…What’s the next step?”
“The pleasure of the bedchamber?”
“Kyaaaah!!!”
Dokgo Ryeong sprang up and tore herself from Baekri Sohyeon’s embrace.
Watching her, Eun Gwan-yeong said,
“You could just let Big Brother Wi have you. Then you’d be able to use your inner energy, and it’d feel good too…”
“Shut up!!”
“Hiiing…”
“I… I have absolutely no intention of spreading my legs for some man!”
“Everyone says that…”
“Enough!”
Dokgo Ryeong unleashed a lion’s roar infused with inner energy, making the cabin creak.
“…How is she so good at controlling her inner energy?”
“I keep telling you, she’s just bursting with talent…”
“Cut the bullshit! Fuck… I’m leaving!”
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t know, fuck! Anywhere!”
Just as Dokgo Ryeong boldly opened the cabin door, someone blocked her way.
“Which bastard…!”
“I’m afraid you can’t go outside, Miss Dokgo.”
When she looked up, Wi Ilcheong stood there, soaked through.
“D-did you fall into the sea or something?”
“No. The weather suddenly turned rough. It’s pouring rain. They told us to stay quietly inside the cabin and be careful in the storm.”
“Ugh…!”
Dokgo Ryeong blushed and looked past Wi Ilcheong’s back.
Just as he’d said, rain was pouring outside, and the few sailors were rushing about.
Just then, the ship suddenly lurched violently.
“Kya!”
“Whoa… Are you all right, Miss?”
Wi Ilcheong caught Dokgo Ryeong before she fell forward and held her in his arms as he asked.
Her heart began to pound again.
“Ah… n-no, I… fuck…”
Dokgo Ryeong’s lower dantian throbbed once more.
“There’s nothing we can do for now, so let’s wait quietly inside.”
Wi Ilcheong grinned and added,
“This gives me plenty of things to teach you, Miss Dokgo.”