Chapter 445: Heavenly Dragon Sword Saint (3)

The fight continued for a short while after Mok In-gwang joined. Thanks to this, Ha Seung-hoon gained more experience in actual combat against a strong opponent, but unfortunately, it didn't last long.

"Ugh! This damned old geezer…"

"Tsk, tsk, I told you to always maintain your breathing. You're in this state because you didn't listen and were swayed by your madness again. With your frail body and dull mind, when will you ever become useful?"

"How can you compare my human body to a yokai's… No, wait, is that something to say to your disciple who's been beaten to a pulp… Cough!"

"Oh dear—your breathing is faltering again? If you just listened to your master, you'd be able to shake off such injuries. Although it's become quite diluted over generations, yokai blood clearly flows through your veins."

"Grit, you damn…!"

"Hahaha! See? You can do it. With this level of regenerative ability, you'll be up and about in no time."

Mok In-gwang lay sprawled on the ground, writhing, his limbs twisted in various directions, blood flowing from his nose and mouth as if his internal organs were damaged, his appearance so ragged that the word "tattered" perfectly described him.

Ha Seung-hoon, watching the old man standing in front of him with one hand behind his back, stroking his beard, his eyes gleamed.

'Rakshasa King, one of the leaders of Geumo Island. A key figure in the faction composed of yokai other than dragon species, right? Someone Horus knows… '

However, since Horus's connections were mainly focused on dragons, he hadn't had any personal conversations with him. Since he bore the title of Yellow Dragon, even if only nominally, he couldn't help but be at the center of the dragon-led faction. Of course, since they had overcome difficult times together, there wasn't any animosity between the factions, but even within the same class, there were always closer and more distant groups. Moreover, hadn't Rakshasa King been absent from the final battle to protect the vacant Geumo Island?

"Grrr—Growl! Damn it, why…!"

Then, his gaze turned towards the rough breathing coming from beside him. There lay a massive creature, writhing in a state no better than Mok In-gwang, its previously ferocious, natural-disaster-like appearance gone.

"Rakshasa King! Why are you here when you should be in the illusory realm? How did you get here so fast?!"

"Haha, just think of it as bad luck. Well, even if I hadn't shown up, it would have been difficult for you to escape Geumo Island's grasp."

"Don't make me laugh! If I had just a little more power, a little more time to devour the Dragon's Child and grow stronger…!"

"Think what you will. You'll have plenty of time to think alone, sealed in the Penitence Cave for the next thousand years."

"Ugh, no! This can't be the end!"

Dool struggled violently, trying to escape. Twisting his regenerating body. But his resistance vanished the moment the old man opened the lid of a small gourd he had pulled from his waist.

"U-Uwaaaaah——! No——!"

His massive body stretched out like a rubber band, being sucked into the gourd as if swallowed by a black hole. The bizarre scream, stretching out along with his body, finally ended when the lid was closed again.

'…Amazing.'

Ha Seung-hoon clicked his tongue inwardly, staring at the Rakshasa King, who calmly secured the gourd containing Dool at his waist. He had intervened at the moment Ha Seung-hoon thought was his limit and completely reversed the situation. Even though his opponent was clearly another great yokai, the difference in their levels was stark.

'Well, he's one of the leaders, so he can't be weak. Did he send Mok In-gwang first as part of his training?'

His gaze shifted to the man still writhing on the ground, cursing. He could tell at a glance. The madness that had been circulating relentlessly within his near-death body wasn't just restoring his damaged flesh, but forging it anew, stronger than before.

'Similar to Harley's method. Of course, the efficiency is incomparable due to the difference in their foundations.'

Moreover, the fact that he, with a small amount of yokai blood, had survived a direct confrontation with a clearly superior great yokai would have been greatly beneficial in training his mind, which was usually difficult to control due to his madness. And that would become a necessary foundation for him to overcome the wall of the Profound Realm.

'Of course, I've also grown from this fight.'

He took a deep breath and observed his inner self.

-Individual Name: Ha Seung-hoon

-Common Traits: 「Mind Hub」, 「Persona」, 「Great Spirit」, 「Insight」, 「Xenoglossy」, 「Subspace Storage」, 「Limit Break」, 「Mimicry」

-Individual Traits: 「Empty Spirit Body」, 「Heavenly Dragon Divine Art」, 「Convergence of All Things」, 「Wuji」, 「Versatile」, 「General Medical Knowledge」, 「Field Cooking」, 「Formation Theory」, 「Gathering」

-Special Notes: Due to long-term cognitive changes, the individual name has been changed from "Hugo" to "Ha Seung-hoon." 「Wuji」 allows for more natural harmonization of different martial principles. Due to the influence of 『Elixir of Growth』 and the Dragon God's blessing, additional growth bonuses are applied to all actions.

A new skill, 「Wuji」, stood out among the various traits he had acquired through his journey.

He instinctively knew.

That the moment he mastered this would be the moment he overcame the wall of transcendence.

'It's a shame I couldn't overcome the wall right away, but it can't be helped.'

His gains from this battle weren't insignificant. At the beginning of the fight, he had barely managed to survive by using all his abilities, but towards the end, he was able to somewhat withstand the great yokai's powerful attacks imbued with demonic energy. It was greedy to expect to reach the Profound Realm with just this one fight. Rather, the fact that he now had all the necessary ingredients to transcend was a greater achievement than he had expected.

That meant the 'Black Dragon Secret Manual' played a significant role.

"Young Master Ha!"

As he was organizing his thoughts…

A refreshing floral scent wafted towards him, and a soft, warm body embraced him.

"You're safe! Ah, I'm so glad! I was so worried because of me…!"

A small woman, sobbing, looked up at him, burying her face in his chest before he could even respond. She was still trembling, as if she had been through a lot, even though the fight itself wasn't that long.

'Or rather, was it because so much happened in such a short time?'

Ha Seung-hoon smiled wryly and patted her shoulder.

"I told you I'd be fine, didn't I? There's no way Geumo Island would stand by while the Dragon's Child was kidnapped right in front of them. It was just a matter of buying time until reinforcements arrived."

"But… you're so injured…!"

Her face crumpled again as she gently stroked Ha Seung-hoon's battered body, pouring the Dragon God's divine power into him. Most of his wounds had already healed thanks to the regenerative ability of 「Empty Spirit Body」, but the torn clothes and bloodstains were enough to tell her how much pain he must have endured.

"…I'm indebted to you again."

She whispered softly, staring at the traces of his struggle. She had been kidnapped because she was the "Dragon's Child" and rescued by him, so her feelings were all the more profound. If it weren't for him, she wouldn't be alive.

"Young Master Ha, I…"

She bit her lip for a moment, then looked up at him with tearful eyes. His face was dirty with sweat and dust, but she didn't care.

Thump—Thump—

The sound of her own heart beating echoed like thunder. Suddenly aware of it, her face flushed red. As she took a deep breath and was about to speak again…

"Hey, Heavenly Dragon Sword Saint. Let's go back now. Oh! And Master wants to talk to you for a bit."

Mok In-gwang, who had recovered enough to move, limped over and patted Ha Seung-hoon's shoulder. Perhaps he felt a sense of camaraderie after facing a strong enemy together, or perhaps he acknowledged his strength, but his attitude was much more casual than before.

"And you too, Jegal Clan girl. Since there was that incident at Mount Mo, he wants to invite you to Geumo Island's main base in the illusory realm. All of you."

Since the illusory realm was a space that existed on the other side of this world, the location of entry and exit didn't matter much, but it was easier to travel through Mount Mo, the designated main gate. He chuckled, adding that this wasn't a privilege granted to just anyone.

"I'm so envious. I only recently received permission to enter and exit. Master must really like you guys."

"That's an honor. But are you alright? Shouldn't you rest more…?"

"Keh, this much is nothing. I'm fine, I'm fine."

Mok In-gwang shrugged with a grin at Ha Seung-hoon's concerned words.

"…"

On the other hand, Jegal Hye-mi, her eyes narrowed at the mood broken by the sudden interruption, quietly glared at him. The quick-witted woman immediately grasped the situation just by looking at the old man shaking his head with a wry smile in the distance and the man grinning mischievously. After twitching her lips for a moment, she approached him with a bright smile.

"Master Mok, you look like you're still in a lot of pain, so let me take a look. The Dragon's Magic also has the power to heal injuries."

"…Hmm? Oh, that would be great."

"I feel bad seeing you injured like this after you came all this way to help us. Here, here, come this way."

"Well, alright. Let's see… Kgggh!"

The divine power penetrating his body activated his regenerative abilities to a level dozens of times higher than usual. His cells convulsed violently, visible to the naked eye. Normally, there should have been a process to reduce the pain, but—.

"Ah, there's a side effect of slight pain if I prioritize efficiency over stability… well, it shouldn't matter to a strong man like you, right? I'll just go with maximum output in one go."

"Kgh—You, you little…!"

He, who had barely been standing with his battered body, finally collapsed like a bird hit by a slingshot, trembling uncontrollably.

But the effect was undeniable. His body, which only had a trace of yokai blood from a distant ancestor and was essentially human, began to recover at an abnormal speed.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, I told you to stay put. When will you ever fix that mischievous nature of yours?"

Rakshasa King, who was standing at a distance, clicked his tongue and stroked his magnificent beard. He looked disapprovingly at his foolish disciple, who had finally foamed at the mouth and fainted.

"Hmm, but if he recovers this quickly, we can resume training right away. No need to lower the intensity just because he's injured. Hahaha!"

Then, with a satisfied smile, he nodded firmly.

Incidentally, the Rakshasa, a type of yokai belonging to Geumo Island, weren't known for their good nature, having once been called "evil spirits."

The incident wasn't completely over just because Dool had been captured and sealed. He realized that Geumo Island also had a lot to do because of Dool's sudden actions.

'Come to think of it, this wasn't just about humans from the start.'

Unity was a great undertaking that required everyone's participation. Now that the first step towards rebuilding the world had been taken, it was necessary to take precautions to prevent further problems.

'Horus has a considerable voice in Geumo Island. Using that, I should be able to control the yokai's actions to some extent.'

Currently, most of the surviving yokai belonged to Geumo Island, the largest yokai faction, but this system wouldn't last long. There were many among them who had joined under one umbrella for survival, just like Dool. Now that safety was secured with the extermination of the Demonic Cult, it was a given that those who no longer needed to be cautious would start acting on their own.

'Everyone's still on edge. If a major incident occurs at a time like this…'

He had taken various measures to minimize conflict, but nothing was perfect. If the flames of war were rekindled by a minor conflict here, the situation would spiral out of control.

'I can't let that happen. I already have a lot to do.'

Ganghwan was in the final stages after the major events had concluded. He was steadily accumulating Karma by stabilizing the world, so he didn't want to complicate things further due to chaos. Therefore, Horus, with the help of the other Five Dragons, worked hard to maintain the system and prevent the unleashed yokai from running rampant, ensuring that the world wouldn't be thrown into turmoil.

He was so busy that he didn't even show his face when Ha Seung-hoon and his party were invited to visit Geumo Island. He was already grasping the situation in real time through the eyes of one of them.

"Certain conditions have been met. The perk 「Yellow Dragon's Orb」 is starting to react."

That's why he was so surprised by the message that suddenly appeared before his eyes.

"Huh? Suddenly?"

One day, when his avatar Ha Seung-hoon, the Dragon's Child Jegal Hye-mi, and their party visited Geumo Island…

…the perk he had completely forgotten about, unsure how to use it after achieving the 'Last Yellow Dragon' achievement, finally revealed its presence.