Chapter 73

The representative of Hwanhui Palace died during the prisoner transfer.

When the news broke, all elders of Hwanhui Palace fell into deep sorrow.

Hameol, the mistress of Hwanhui Palace, was certainly no good mistress.

She was cruel, treating elders like maidservants, often resorting to violence rather than words.

On top of that, her greed was extraordinary—she would monopolize handsome men or occasionally snag a strong male inmate and suck them dry.

Yet, Hameol was the master of Hwanhui Palace.

The master of Hwanhui Palace is the owner of the Young Hwanhui Palace.

In other words, Hameol was a living manual that could perfectly pass down the Young Hwanhui Palace’s secrets!

In fact, the elders had taken to calling Hameol “Seossi,” or “the fool of the year,” behind her back.

Or sometimes affectionately as “that damned woman.”

Everyone wished for Hameol’s death.

But they wanted her to die only after passing down her divine skills.

Thus, amidst the sadness, the elders asked.

So, what about the manual?

It’s hard to learn martial arts solely from manuals.

But it’s better than having no martial arts at all.

Otherwise, the elders could study and develop a new commentary together, especially if everyone at the elder level participated.

Hopeful glances exchanged among the elders, albeit tinged with sorrow.

But the manual was burned.

Had physics evolved significantly in the Central Plain, one could at least comfort themselves by saying that the manual hadn’t truly disappeared but rather transformed into heat and light, still existing in the world.

Alas, the Central Plain was still primitive, and one could only feel despair.

According to the five stages of loss, the elders promptly denied reality.

No way! There couldn’t possibly be such a reality in the world!

Something must have gone wrong.

Surely, that fool, no matter how ignorant or self-serving she was, wouldn’t have carried the manual around with her.

If she had died with the Hwanhui Palace’s martial arts manual, it would mean the entire palace’s seasonal practices would vanish.

Even a thoughtless, selfish woman wouldn’t do that…

But even upon further thought, Hameol was indeed that kind of terrible woman.

That fool had truly caused a disaster!

The elders overcame the stage of denial with logical reasoning.

So the next step.

Next came anger.

Why not just kill Hameol? Why burn the manual?

I thought there was only that damned woman as the mistress, but apparently, there’s an even higher challenge above that!

I won’t let that wicked evil go unpunished!

As Qing had barely settled in, the enraged elders swarmed towards him.

“It’s you! The wicked woman who burned the Young Hwanhui Palace!”

What’s going on? Who are these people?

Why are they suddenly here hurling insults?

After briefly analyzing the opponents’ tendencies and preferences, Qing managed to deduce the most infuriating response.

A talent akin to artificial intelligence.

“Yeah! That’s right!”

Qing shouted confidently.

While the elders were momentarily speechless, Qing followed up.

“But hey, who are you old ladies? You should take care of those wrinkles. You think covering them with makeup makes it disappear? Though, what can you do about getting older?”

Old! Aunt! Wrinkles! Makeup! Gasp!

Elder Jipbeop clutched his neck.

That was a scary tongue that targeted the exact weakness that had been worrying them.

Already in distress from the loss of divine skills, he was dealt a fatal blow.

Elder Jipbeop gasped for air and eventually coughed up bright red blood.

The qi and blood of a peak supreme master twisted, leading to an entrance to demons.

As his inner strength seeped away, the once firm skin swiftly shrank to that of an old woman.

The position of Elder Jipbeop was typically held by the strongest elder among the active members.

And since Hwanhui Palace was the same, with the mistress deceased, the palace’s strongest power had again been knocked out.

“Wow. She wasn’t an aunt, she was a grandmother.”

Wow. Not only was she wicked, but also old.

Qing commented on witnessing the mysterious scene of real-time aging.

Another elder, shocked at the mention of “grandmother.”

“You, you wicked girl!”

“No! Elder Gyejae, please come to your senses!”

The elder responsible for training urgently infused true energy into Elder Gyejae’s acupuncture point.

Elder Gyejae barely managed to escape the entrance to demons.

Qing licked his lips.

What a pity. I could have sent another one off!

Just then, the head elder yelled furiously.

“Do you even know what you’ve done?”

“You mean killing an old lady? What’s wrong with killing that damned woman?”

Qing continued to poke the bear.

But this time, it didn’t work.

“Who cares about that!”

Hameol’s death was treated like that.

In fact, it didn’t even matter.

This was precisely why one should show kindness to others in daily life.

“How dare you burn the manual!”

Oh, so that’s what it was?

Qing reflected for a moment.

Earlier, he hadn’t understood the stronghold’s reasoning despite having heard “the dead are at fault” about murder.

What? Seriously?

Is every member of the Heavenly Demon Sect really backing her?

Then how is the group still alive?

Suddenly, he felt a sociological curiosity rising.

The grand teachings of his self-made university had crafted Qing into a productive worker.

And yet, Qing quickly lost interest.

An utterly pointless decision from the past.

If only Taichang could win and take him back to reality, he would major in something more informative.

Having finished reflecting, Qing set his sights back on the target.

“What’s wrong with burning wicked demonic arts?”

The effect was outstanding.

“Shut up! Look at how you’re talking!”

“Demonic arts!”

Excited women screeched and raised a ruckus.

Qing tilted his head calmly.

“Is it not?”

“H-how can you say such horror! The Young Hwanhui Palace is the divine skills of righteous energy! Even if we are treated like side sects…! Ugh, ugh.”

The head elder staggered.

With the mistress of Hwanhui Palace gone, he was now the highest rank.

Of course, Qing didn’t care.

Something else piqued his interest.

“Wait, so it wasn’t demonic arts, huh? Uhh!”

Suddenly, a palm aimed at his cheek!

Qing reflexively grabbed the wrist.

“Let go! Let go! Aaaaah!”

It was Elder Suryun who couldn’t contain her anger.

The poison from black blood surged from Qing’s palm.

Seizing the moment, the furious energy penetrated Elder Suryun as she lashed out.

Her blood vessels shredded apart, stained with black bruises visible on both her wrists.

Qing’s strength was comparable to that of a Young Heroine.

Startled and pained, Elder Suryun just wanted to flee but found her wrist firmly grasped and shaken.

Qing frowned.

“Lady, you used demonic arts. Do you think I don’t try hard to avoid using them? I was so surprised I ended up using them.”

“Cough, let go! I can’t let go! Let go…!”

“This lady is funny. Am I someone who lets go when told? You’ve got a terrible attitude for asking nicely. How about you say, ‘please release me’ for a change? Or should I consider…”

Qing hastily grabbed both attacking arms.

Now, the two women were forced to face each other.

Qing examined the numbers. Three hundred twenty-four.

Why is this place so messed up?

Must be because the head is Brother Ho.

Qing tightened his grip.

A grip strong enough to bend steel.

An old lady’s frail wrist squashed like tofu, oozing between Qing’s fingers.

“Gyaaaaaah!”

Elder Suryun shrieked and staggered.

Her struggling arms turned to mush below the elbow, severed cleanly.

Spraying blood everywhere as her flailing arm met the air.

Amidst it all, Qing trembled, confused.

What? What? What the hell is this?

A look of awe crossed Qing’s face as he inspected his palm.

How could this be described?

Flesh was squished, bursting, and spraying, tickling his fingers as they gushed out.

Right here, within this hand.

The sensation of bones breaking under pressure still felt vividly present.

“Haah…”

Qing exhaled a sigh of exhilaration.

The elders turned pale at the sight.

“What, a madwoman…!”

Another horrifying bloodline had entered the scene!

The elders swallowed their laments.

However, given the many crazies within the demonic sect, no one wet their pants or vomited.

After all, there are those who revel in both cannibalism and time simultaneously, so a woman gleeful at bursting people was hardly surprising.

But if that woman had to be the one to teach martial arts, it was only natural for the blood to drain from their faces.

Pondering the aftertaste, Qing noticed the elders trying to sneak out.

Come to think of it, who are those ladies?

Why did they swarm around me?

It mattered not to him who these unknown women were, whether they left or stayed, he’d simply take them out regardless.

But he needed to hear that last explanation.

“So, what do you mean that the Young Hwanhui Palace isn’t demonic arts? Just one person stay and explain it to me.”

—-

Originally, the Room Exchange Technique is a Daoist technique for longevity.

It’s a method that allows the exchange of true energy through the encounter of two (or more!) people.

At the same time, they could indulge in a bit of pleasure.

Originally, it was intended to lead to a happy outcome for everyone, hence the pursuit of longevity.

So, exchanges of Yin and Yang were not one-sided.

As men and women practiced, the man would cultivate Yin, while the woman cultivated Yang.

So, sects that mainly practiced the Room Exchange Technique while not harming their partners lived on just fine.

There was even a joke that disciples of the world-renowned Red Pavilion of Elite Ballerinas fed on elixirs instead of rice.

However, once a man entered the Hwanhui Palace, he would never come out again.

Naturally, one would become a martial arts legend.

The Young Hwanhui Palace was a vision of the Room Exchange Technique, growing the dantian by circulating and harmonizing various energies contained within after the act.

The clear downside of the space-grabbing technique was that a hodgepodge of energies couldn’t reach a high realm.

The Young Hwanhui Palace guaranteed overcoming this flaw through a special method.

Thus, only the mistress could cultivate it.

Through this, Hwanhui Palace could independently maintain supreme martial prowess and rule the palace.

This is precisely why the loss of the Young Hwanhui Palace was such a shock to the elders.

Nevertheless, it could be said that the Young Hwanhui Palace inherited the legitimate Daoist lineage…

One remaining elder explained this and fled.

Qing was satisfied with that explanation.

So, it was something he could learn!

Qing hesitated… before investing in the training spot.

After all, the initiation felt like having his brain chewed out, so it’s no surprise he hesitated.

And then, the secret technique forcibly seeped into his mind.

As is typical, the introduction began from the image of who he was and what he saw and created—

A person enjoys the way of mutual flourishing with joy, said to be a delight soaring freely across a vast sky.

Yet, this real fairy, born into a curse of stone, knew no joy and only brought sorrow to her husband, marking it as a grievance across eternity.

Thus, this fairy created the secret technique, two hundred sixty-nine characters long, allowing her to frolic in a new world.

It was also a path to true joys unknown in life through the flower.

Even in the midst of that horrible sensation of someone violently manipulating his brain, Qing felt something odd.

What’s this secret technique? Something feels off…

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