Chapter 75

A moment passed.

The villain without hands lay there, limp.

Gyeon Pohee wiped the sweat off her forehead with her sleeve.

After finishing her work, a glimmer shone on Gyeon Pohee’s face.

With the nameplate of what just a moment ago had been a private residence tucked away, Gyeon Pohee wore a face beaming with joy.

She was smiling with such bright cheerfulness that it was practically blinding.

Scooping up Qing, Gyeon Pohee pranced down the hallway, humming a tune.

“Thanks to you, I’ve had quite the feast for the first time in ages! Oh dear! Did I introduce myself? I’m Gyeon Pohee. You’re my junior sister.”

“Uh, no. I’m not your junior sister.”

“…? Isn’t junior sister Seomun Qing?”

“Yes, I’m Seomun Qing.”

“But then you’re not my junior sister…?”

“Why would I be your junior sister…?”

The two stared at each other, bewildered.

Qing had other thoughts.

-149. It was supposed to be a fifteen but turned into a fourteen?

But that didn’t diminish my merits, did it?

Was it because I only landed half the kills and she finished them off?

Thinking back, it seemed even villains could pile up good deeds in their own twisted way.

But does that really make a villain a righteous person?

If one did bad things, wouldn’t they deserve some heavenly punishment?

Yet, she didn’t seem like a bad person.

Wait, does a good person suck up to a villain?

It was a complicated issue.

Can evil deeds be compensated by good ones?

Then, wouldn’t there be villains who have accrued good merit yet are treated like non-people?

But how could I even know that?

So, Qing decided to stop thinking about it.

After all, even the visible villains overflow.

There was no need to worry about washed-up villains.

“I clearly heard that you were admitted into Hwanhui Palace yesterday,” Qing said, her expression turning serious.

“What are you talking about? Why would our master let us join the cult’s minions? What nonsense is that?”

“Your junior sister’s master? Who is it?”

“Seomun Sulin, the one with the surname Seomun.”

“…? Was there such an elder in our palace?”

Qing was baffled.

Could her master really be in the Divine Maiden Sect rather than here?

“Of course not. Would that even be logical?”

“…?”

Gyeon Pohee looked utterly perplexed.

But Qing understood vaguely.

That Supreme Being Representative had said something like that, hadn’t he?

To welcome Seomun Qing into Hwanhui Palace and provide her with every martial art and elixir without restraint.

That expressionless, clueless kid must have misunderstood and caused this mess.

Well then, I guess I should play along.

First, I need to grab the martial arts and elixirs.

“Alright. What the heck. Let’s go with junior sister for now.”

“Really!? Sister Seomun, you can just call me Gyeon.”

No way! How dare you use my surname like that!

Is there really a dumb girl who doesn’t even know the name Seomun!?

Qing was aghast at that ignorance.

Seriously, I must reconsider my evaluation of her.

House? Nah, you’d be better suited as a footstool.

Qing pegged her as roughly Footstool 2.0.

But where did Good Ol’ Grandpa 1 go?

I had so many questions.

—

In truth, Qing couldn’t understand the reason for her rejection of Demonic Arts.

Her master had said that all Demonic Arts fundamentally stirred up evil spirits.

And even though there are brutal martial arts that orthodox sects still use, not all of them are particularly cruel or demonically inclined.

However, having already tackled the top-notch Supreme Hand-to-Hand Combat and its various Demonic Arts, Qing was a bit skeptical.

While sure, Supreme Hand-to-Hand Combat and Black Death Demonic Arts had an exceptional touch,

Killing a villain isn’t such a bad hobby either.

After all, when you’re going to kill, why not enjoy it a little?

It would be fun, and wouldn’t the villain deeply regret their crimes?

But wait, evil-mindedness arises from that?

Where exactly does that evil arise from, anyway?

Ironically, it was the extraordinary control provided by pure-hearted arts like Hwanhee Jin-gi that caused more serious defects.

If you’re feeling great, you might just end up in big trouble.

If I hadn’t had that adequate footstool to back me up, I might’ve tumbled to the ground mid-fight for no reason.

Sure, getting used to it seems feasible.

Qing recalled that moment.

Hehe, that was fun…

Qing smiled unabashedly, lost in thought until she snapped back to reality.

The real problem lay in controlling the Hwanhee Jin-gi.

Why does it train automatically?

Even now, it was out of control, gaining momentum at every moment imaginable, whether sitting still, eating, or relying on others.

The Master of Thunder Arts would throw a fit if I didn’t control this twist.

To describe it accurately, the Master of Thunder would surge forth from Dantian first, while Hwanhee Jin-gi chased after it.

Thanks to that, both techniques were being automatically leveled up rapidly.

But originally, the Inner Strength Meditation Technique was supposed to absorb and refine True Energy.

Following the unspoken rules of the technique, you could infinitely fill Dantian as long as your lifespan permitted.

Starting with the basics, form Dantian and Force Channels.

Once you become an official disciple, you later inherited the developed techniques to maneuver True Energy following its flow.

Only when reaching a certain level could one then learn the sect’s secret advanced techniques.

Thus, the True Energy cultivated through lower-tier techniques would meld naturally into higher ones.

Otherwise, the energies would clash and flow separately, rather than be absorbed.

But Qing was not that ordinary.

What she had was a bizarre blend of a status window and martial arts.

Her True Energy was gaining points directly leading to achievements.

With each level earned, her abilities were improved, and her maximum inner strength would rise as well.

Upon reaching a grand achievement, that’s when it significantly skyrocketed.

Whenever she accessed her status window, Qing was meticulously alert, feeling like she was nothing more than a foreign body in this realm.

Anyway.

Hwanhee Jin-gi wasn’t the Absorption Technique.

It was a technique that gathered and purifies True Energy from others after it entered the body.

Indeed, it could be considered the essence of a proper Daoist divine skill.

In terms of personifying true energy, it was like this.

Hwanhee Jin-gi views other Daoist energies as really friendly neighbors happily cohabiting in the same Dantian.

But not the Master of Thunder Arts.

That vile energy needed to be purified into something wholesome!

With its already gloomy existence threatened and driven to exile, the Master of Thunder Arts was on the run.

Hwanhee Jin-gi chased right after it.

The Moon Lady cheered from the sidelines.

Being inherently Daoist, she chose not to hinder the playful torture by family.

And the result? Automatic training!

Qing had no idea why this happened.

But one thing was for sure; the sense of danger was real.

Excessive anything could lead to trouble.

Even feeling good had its limits.

If her body became unmanageable, that would be an entirely different problem.

This was just the side effect from Hwanhee Jin-gi?

If her accomplishments went higher from here, it’d be no joke — she’d drop to the floor every time she took a hit!

So Qing pondered.

Because martial arts can amplify sensitivity, perhaps there are techniques that dampen it as well?

Fortunately, there was someone to ask.

That was Grandpa Mouthy, Footstool 1.

But why does this grandpa like me, anyway?

With all the baggage of being a Great Demon Lord, it was somewhat burdensome.

“Grandpa, is there such a thing as a technique that makes a person a bit numb?”

“Sure, but…”

“Wow. There’s nothing you don’t have. So what is it?”

“Tch. Don’t you know that learning something like that makes someone utterly dulled? It’s not something a person should toy with, you little brat.”

“Did anyone ask you to worry? Chill out.”

“Yapping little brat, it’s usually the Ice Arts that cause that.”

“Ice Arts?”

“You’re so ignorant.”

“Lady, fine, I admit I’m ignorant. But can you hurry up and spill the beans?”

“Tch.”

Choi Riyong clicked his tongue, finally elaborating.

There are martial arts that simply interpret the principles of yin and yang.

Yin is cold. Yang is hot.

Thus, there are Ice Arts that conduct freezing attacks, and the Flame Art that unleashes fiery assaults.

Although honestly, both aren’t very effective.

If Ice Arts and Flame Arts were powerful, surely every warrior in the Central Plain would decide their future based on either fire or ice.

However, the Flame Art is way better in terms of efficiency.

When comparing the two, the efficiency gap is so vast it’s almost an insult to the Flame Art compared to lowly Ice Arts.

If it’s hot, you get burned in an instant, but if it’s cold, you just pull your hand away because you felt the chill.

Why do the Ice Masters of the Northern Sea stick to that frozen land?

Ice Art only works well there in an extreme cold climate.

In fact, you have to cool it even more at those freezing times to gain any effect.

Thus, even if a master of ice somehow comes down to the Central Plain they’re treated like a frozen snack.

Still, they begrudgingly obtain the expensive raw stones needed for ice-making, and while their treatment isn’t too bad, it’s not the best either.

At this juncture, Qing’s eyes lit up.

“Oh! So if I master that technique, I can make a refreshing cold tea as well?”

“Cold tea!? What world are you living in? Are you absolutely out of your mind?”

“No, but isn’t there a way to make cold tea?”

“Child… please. Wake up. Just stop. I’ll take the blame for everything. Okay?”

Choi Riyong looked at her as if she were the world’s most pitiful creature.

Hmmm. Is that where we’re at?

But why?

Why don’t these primitive original folks understand the joy of refreshing tea?

Sure, there was cold tea in the Central Plain.

But it was sweetened liquid made from boiled fruits or grain-based teas from barley or corn.

However, fruit teas or grain teas were only technically tea since they were treated like just beverages.

Real tea was strictly defined by operations like steaming, roasting, or drying tea leaves resulting in a suitable brew.

“I’m perfectly sane, thank you. Quit with the nonsense. So what’s the strongest Ice Art among them?”

“That’d be Ice White Divine Skill.”

Choi Riyong replied without flinching.

In truth, there would be no warrior unaware of it.

“Ice White Divine Skill?”

“What? Even a seven-year-old knows that.”

“Stop with the insults about ignorance. I’m done tolerating it. You keep this up, and I will bring you to ruin.”

Qing declared as she fiddled with her Martial Arts Inventory.

Ice White Divine Skill, Ice White Divine Art, Ice White Divine Sword.

Three purples arts presented themselves at the top.

Ah, the flaw of those purple martial arts.

If you wanted them separately, good luck using merit exchange wouldn’t even come close.

But just the Ice White Divine Skill could work, huh…

But would that be a bit disappointing?

As per Footstool 1’s explanation, it only adds a freezer function instead of anything fancy.

But this was an emergency.

I had to somehow deal with the side effects of Hwanhee Jin-gi…

Just when Qing was deep in thought, she heard,

“Hey, why the sudden interest in Ice Arts, you little fool?”

“Do you know any Ice Arts?”

“Seolga has mastered the Ice Heavenly Rain Demonic Art.”

What? Another Demonic Art?

Qing glanced at her open Martial Arts Inventory.

Ice Heavenly Rain Demonic Art. Just red-framed?

With a name like the best Demonic Art under heaven, and yet only red?

Clearly a drop in grade…

But wait, that doesn’t matter right now.

“If I master that, will my senses dull a bit?”

“Dulled? More like shockingly wooden! Seriously, what are you? A tree stump? They don’t call it Demonic Art for nothing.”

Now that’s perfect!

Moreover, since it’s a Demonic Art, logically, wouldn’t it make me a demon too?

Qing’s eyes sparkled as she asked, “So, where does this Seolga guy live?”

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