Following Elder Suyanggeon into the Hundred Flowers Clan, I saw magnificent estates built everywhere. I was briefly impressed by the scenery, which resembled a movie set.
-Faster!
-Kuaaaaah!
-Is that all you've got?!
-Kuaaaah!!
'Shit, my eyes!'
I couldn't help but feel murderous rage at the filthy sight of dozens of men shirtless and training together.
'…Hold back, hold back.'
I immediately buried my face in Cheon Yeohwa's neck and inhaled her scent. Fortunately, I was able to suppress my murderous intent to some extent.
'Hoo…right, over 90% of martial artists are men, I can't be like this every time.'
I wanted to blow them all away with a range magic spell, but I wanted to avoid becoming a public enemy of the martial arts world and causing trouble.
However, I couldn't just let it go that the men kept glancing at Cheon Yeohwa.
Kugung-
The mana circle, pulsating according to my will, spewed out magical power. As the magical power spread widely enough to encompass the surroundings, the complexions of the men who had been glancing at us from the training ground turned pale in an instant.
"S-Supreme Hero Kang!"
Elder Suyanggeon, who was leading the way, rushed over in a panic.
"Elder, does the Hundred Flowers Clan do a terrible job of educating its disciples? How dare mere disciples stare with filthy eyes at a guest being personally guided by an elder."
Elder Suyanggeon looked back and forth between Cheon Yeohwa and the training ground. He seemed to realize what I was saying.
Even though she was wrapped tightly in a veil and outer garment, it was not enough to hide Cheon Yeohwa's beauty and voluptuous figure.
Like a famous celebrity, she exuded an atmosphere that was 180 degrees different from others, even from a distance. Where in the world could there be a man who wouldn't be captivated by her appearance?
I understood, but I couldn't forgive the fact that she was my woman.
"E-Elder, what is this…?!"
A man who had been teaching the disciples at the training ground rushed over in a hurry. He flinched and stepped back as soon as he made eye contact with me, breaking into a cold sweat.
"How are you educating your disciples! Instead of training, they're rudely staring at honored guests!"
"Y-Yes?!"
The man, startled by the elder's rebuke, immediately turned to the training ground and glared at the disciples.
Then he immediately bowed to me.
"I'm sorry, I will thoroughly educate them, so please be generous just this once."
I don't know how much these martial artists like generosity.
Of course, I had no intention of starting a sword fight with the disciples over this, so I sighed once, pretended to think about it, and nodded lightly.
"There won't be a next time."
"I sincerely thank you for your generosity, Supreme Hero Kang!"
Leaving the man bowing repeatedly behind me, I followed Suyanggeon again. The same thing did not happen until we reached our destination.
Maybe Suyanggeon was warning the people passing by with some kind of telepathy.
Anyway, we entered what appeared to be today's destination, and there were men gathered there who exuded a fairly decent aura.
There were seven of them, and three of them seemed stronger than Suyanggeon.
The men sitting side by side seemed to be elders like him, and the man sitting in the center seemed to be the clan leader.
"Nice to meet you, I am Jo Jawon, the leader of the Hundred Flowers Clan."
"Kang Hyunwoo."
The expressions of the surrounding elders turned fierce at my blunt use of informal speech. But since they were already fierce-looking, I didn't pay much attention to it.
"…I heard that my son caused you trouble, and I apologize for that."
"Do you know what happened?"
"Of course. I heard that he and my martial brother harassed your beloved? Tsk tsk…I guess he turned out like that because I spoiled him, being the late child I had in my old age."
"Is that why you sent an elder to argue?"
At my sarcasm, Jo Jawon quietly closed his eyes and bowed his head. The surrounding elders were shocked at the sight.
"I admit that I made a mistake due to hasty judgment, even though I was flustered."
"Empty-handed?"
Elder Suyanggeon looked at me with a fed-up expression. 'I already took dozens of silver coins from you, and you're still trying to get something?' he seemed to be asking.
But that's that, and this is this. In the first place, the money I received from Elder Suyanggeon was the price for protecting his pride. If there had been no settlement, he would have had to crawl on the floor after being beaten to a pulp in front of his disciples.
"As a matter of fact, I have prepared a gift."
Jo Jawon handed me a long wooden box that was next to him. It looked like it was made of high-quality material.
I carefully opened the box.
Inside the box was a sword with a jet-black blade.
"What's this?"
"Black Killing Frenzied Demon Sword, his sword that I obtained after dealing with a frenzied demon during my martial arts journey in my youth. It is an apology for my son's rudeness, can you accept it?"
I grabbed the sword as if possessed.
Tting-
[Information about the newly acquired item is being collected]
[Black Killing Frenzied Demon Sword]
[Rank: Epic]
[The power of swordsmanship is greatly increased]
[Cutting power is greatly increased]
[Evil energy is amplified]
[???-Unreleased]
[Constantly gnaws at the user's mind]
As soon as I saw the item description, my mouth dropped open.
Although I was disappointed in many ways that it didn't have the function of a wand like Gilhenniem, if I simply looked at the performance of the sword itself, it was a better weapon than Gilhenniem.
The overall quality was excellent, and the design was cool.
But the description written on the last line was bothersome enough to overshadow all those advantages.
[Constantly gnaws at the user's mind]
"…It doesn't seem like an ordinary sword?"
"Oh, to think you'd notice that. That's right. That sword, as its name suggests, is a frenzied demon sword that drives its owner insane. In the first place, no one but the Demonic Sect would be able to handle that sword. The reason I gave you the 'Black Killing Frenzied Demon Sword' is not because I want you to use it."
"Then?"
"As you can see, that sword is a fine sword made of black ore iron. If you can find a suitable place to sell it, it will easily fetch dozens of gold coins."
So, instead of cash, you're going to give me something expensive, so take care of it yourself and get the money?
At first glance, it seemed rude to say it was a compensation for an apology with a condition attached, but the story changed if it was dozens of gold coins.
However, even if it was compensation for an apology, was it right to hand over an item worth dozens of gold coins to an outsider? It was such a good story that I was reluctant to accept it.
"So what's your real intention?"
I subtly released magical power. I refuse to handle stolen goods with a story.
"…I want you to get rid of it from the Hundred Flowers Clan, right in front of my eyes."
"I think you're missing the most important reason."
"I had three sons. Now I have two…He was a trustworthy eldest son who would succeed the Hundred Flowers Clan with his outstanding talent. But he seemed to think that he could handle even the 'Black Killing Frenzied Demon Sword' because he was intoxicated with his own talent. He secretly practiced with the frenzied demon sword every night, and as a result, he was devoured by the sword's magic and became a demon. He murdered dozens of disciples and then died after exhausting all his energy."
It was a sad story that was enough to shed two tears, but that wasn't the reason.
"The Hundred Flowers Clan is a subordinate of the Mount Hua Sect and has its roots in Taoism. It is absolutely unacceptable for such a clan to secretly dispose of a demonic sword. Furthermore, destroying a demonic sword like the Black Killing Frenzied Demon Sword is no different from releasing the resentment contained in the sword into the world. Of course, it is possible to release the resentment through a memorial service, but that would cost at least dozens of gold coins, so I thought it would be better to hand it over to a martial artist like you."
"What if I carry that demonic sword around and go crazy and massacre people?"
Jo Jawon stared at me silently after finishing speaking. It was similar to the look in the eyes of the monk I met when I went to the temple to get rice.
"Because I believe you wouldn't do that."
"You're senile."
"Maybe I am."
I chuckled and released magical power while holding the sword. I wanted to test whether it was a demonic sword that could actually drive people crazy, as its name suggested.
For reference, my magical power was almost a direct transfer of pure natural mana thanks to the app's buff.
Unlike other wizards, even if a guy called the Frenzied Demon Sword received my magical power, which contained no impurities, could it stay still?
-Kuaaaaah!!!
A scream that sounded like fingernails scratching a chalkboard echoed in my head. I instinctively realized that it was the frenzied demon sword screaming.
The frenzied demon sword infused evil energy through my arm as if it were struggling.
The evil energy that quickly climbed up my arm permeated my head. It was a terrible energy that would have been enough to turn a person into a vegetable, but I was fine.
Tting-
[Confirmed the erosion of evil energy]
[???]
[Resist the erosion of evil energy]
[Resistance successful]
[First time experiencing Qi]
[Dantian has been created]
…What?
Thud-
At the same time as the incomprehensible message appeared, I lost consciousness and fell.
***
All I could feel in the darkness where I couldn't see an inch ahead was my body.
My arms and legs, as well as my pulsating heart and the circle spewing out magical power, were no different from usual.
But there was one thing, something foreign was in my lower abdomen. It was faint, but it was creating magical power like a circle.
No, it was subtly different from magical power. Just as I was about to concentrate a little more and try to observe myself.
"…Ah."
"Hyunwoo!"
I woke up from my sleep with a strange feeling.
When I struggled to get up, I made eye contact with Cheon Yeohwa. Her eyes were full of worry and trembling slightly. I stroked Cheon Yeohwa's cheek and smiled as usual.
Gurgle-
Just then, my senseless stomach clock went off.
"I'm hungry."
"Well, you've been asleep for more than half a day, so you should be."
"…Half a day?"
I immediately brought up the app screen.
[Remaining matching time: 195:37:24]
After matching with Iris, the time that had increased to 10 days had about 8 days left. Judging from the rough calculation, it seemed true that I had been asleep for about half a day.
I could tell just by looking at the moon over the window.
"Are you not feeling well…?"
I lightly kissed Cheon Yeohwa, whose voice was trembling unlike usual because she was still worried about me.
"Uh, I just took a long nap."
"Who takes a nap like they're fainting!"
"Me."
I got out of bed.
I slowly moved and checked my body condition. There was no pain or discomfort, but I felt something foreign.
When I closed my eyes for a moment and observed my body, I could understand the reason.
"Ha, wait a moment. I'll go cause some trouble…"
"Yeohwa."
An unknown energy was wriggling in my lower abdomen.
"I think I have a dantian?"