Combat method <AI Mode>
After changing the combat method Seol-Hwi felt excited.
But then the words which appeared in front of him next felt confusing.
<Not possible! This task cannot be performed. The AI cannot be executed when not in combat or in non-dangerous situations.>
“Uh…?”
This was unexpected.
However, thinking about it, the AI had one rule unlike the other combat methods.
It doesn’t apply unless in combat or in danger.
In the past it was the only reason he had ever even summoned the AI.
“Well, what do I…”
Seol-Hwi pondered for a moment and his gaze shifted to the Wind Demon Sword.
“Right. This might work.”
A good idea popped into his head.
Seol-Hwi picked the sword and pulled it out the sheath.
Clack
“Hmm.”
He hesitated for a moment as he looked around and turned to the ceiling.
If it cannot be summoned in a normal way, then that means he had to create a dangerous situation, right?
Wheik
Seol-Hwi threw the sword up and the sword which turned round and round seemed to touch the ceiling and began to fall down.
In that moment–
Combat method <AI Mode>
–The change was made
The combat method had changed, and there was no error notification telling him it was not possible.
Did it… work?
But Seol-Hwi felt something strange.
From what he had experienced until now, as soon as the AI was used, his body would be seen from a third person point of view from above.
Strangely however, he was standing on the opposite side of the ceiling and directly looked at the AI.
Furthermore–
Jjkkk!
His original body did not look fine at all.
It looked like the waist and chest were split, and it seemed like the body was translucent.
Jjing!
And he could hear a metal sound within his ear.
Clench!
Although the sword cut through the body of the AI and fell, he wasn’t hurt.
Which meant that he hadn’t taken control of his human body yet.
Next the seemingly invisible body turned visible.
-Look here, say something…
He said in a hurry, but the AI who looked at him seemed confused too.
He closed his eyes looking at the hands and feet as he asked in a voice which split several times.
“You… How did you get to Peak Demon?”
-What…?
Jjkkk
Along with the metal sound, the body split and was reattached.
And then at some point he looked normal and asked.
“Through the normal way… I could never properly see it…”
-Ah…
This was weird.
The words of the AI weren’t being properly relayed either.
“You… cannot call me… if demonic energy is… lacking!”
And that was it.
Shhh!
The appearance of the AI vanished with Seol-Hwi going back into his body.
“Kuak.”
Seol-Hwi sat on the floor.
Ddduduk!
His energy was running amok. The natural flow through the dantian had been disrupted, and it was just moving recklessly.
This is bad!
Cold sweat formed on the body of Seol-Hwi who was now back in his own body.
Dudud!
All his meridians seemed to have let the energy go wild.
And so the midpoint was operated.
Seol-Hwi tried to control the energy but it was in vain as he had lost control.
This cannot happen.
Seol-Hwi sat cross legged.
He couldn’t control it, but he had to do something so he didn’t die from this.
If the qi rushed into other meridians, especially into his brain, then he would die.
“Ugh…”
Seol-Hwi did try his best to control the energy, but it wasn’t working the way he wanted it to.
It felt like there were too many points of the body where the energy was running out of control.
Because of that, it felt impossible to control it.
I need to… somehow… control it!
Rumble!
It felt like lightning was striking his body as his mind was exceeding its control limit.
Right now he was in a state where his body had exceeded the limit of what it can control.
Seol-Hwi was already facing a situation that went beyond his limits.
It was a desperate situation which couldn’t be controlled by will alone.
Is this how it ends… uh?!
Tuk!
It was then–
The dantian which seemed to have lost control stopped for a moment due to the intervention of another energy.
The points on his back were being held as an unfamiliar energy began to seep in.
“I am here to help. So focus.”
…Ma Taryong!
The familiar voice.
Seol-Hwi now knowing who this person was, began to concentrate on holding the energy.
Grrrr!
The runaway energy began to slowly subside when the same type of energy came in.
Ruu!
Even so, Ma Taryong was a person who overcame the Peak Demon stage.
So he could subdue the ruthless energy raging within Seol-Hwi.
Tuk. Tuk.
Sweat was dripping down. How long had it been?
When Seol-Hwi felt that he was finally in control, the counter began.
Ddd
By pressing the runaway points, the flow turned normal.
About the time when the blood points were sealed.
Seol-Hwi wiped the cold sweat and got up.
“Thank you very much, vice captain. Thanks to you my life has been saved.”
“It was nothing. it was fortunate that I managed to come at the right moment.”
Trickle
Like Seol-Hwi, even Ma Taryong had cold sweat running down his head.
He, a Peak Demon level warrior, was sweating which meant the situation was just that bad.
“I was wondering if… and I figured it out. I am glad I came at the right time.”
“Vice captain. Do you know why this happened to me?”
Seol-Hwi asked, remembering that Ma Taryong wanted to say something before too.
And his crew rushed over, making him go silent.
“Captain.”
His face turned serious and asked Seol-Hwi.
“Among the things you are learning right now, there is one which is not a demonic martial art, correct?”
“Yes. There is.”
“The path to Peak Demon is usually opened with demonic energy and it exceeds a certain level once enlightenment comes. However, the captain has now gained enlightenment through the other path.”
“…?”
“Simply put, you didn’t rise according to the sect’s methods but the opposite faction’s.”
“Ah…”
Seol-Hwi realized what the problem was.
Originally, it had to be a harmony of demonic energy, but as he trained a certain martial art, things turned strange.
With a body which had demonic energy within, he attained enlightenment using the justice side’s method, so it was natural he got sick.
“…What am I supposed to do?”
“I don’t know either. Can you not ask for advice from your teacher?”
“Teacher…?”
“I am talking about the Cold-hearted Witch, Cheon Miryo.”
“…”
Seol-Hwi went silent.
This was actually a lie. But it went round and round, and had been brought up so many times, he couldn’t deny it now.
“Looking back… you seem like an expert at handling both flame and ice at the same time?”
“Ah, yes.”
“And said it was due to her.”
“Y-yes.”
Drip
Seol-Hwi began to sweat again, and this time the sweat came due to a different feeling. He should have noticed something strange was happening…
“Hmm…”
Fortunately, he just concentrated on the issue at hand.
For him, who was born a warrior, this unexpected situation itself was very interesting.
“I am lacking but I have an interesting theory.”
After thinking and worrying for a long while, Ma Taryong said,
“I want to listen to your opinion.”
“Yes. Perhaps the internal energy of the captain, where the clash of yin and yang often happens, has turned into a nature of betting.”
“Nature of… betting?”
“Right. It is easy if we think about the current path. Didn’t the internal body which was once stable and cleared the mind and body turn into something of a raging mess?”
“Ah.”
Surely it did.
No matter how old the martial arts of that taoist sect was, even if he followed the training method they said, the body of an individual is different.
There were cases where the disciples of this taoist sect had died with the cultivation method going wrong, or with their character having changed, turning them into people with great bloodlust.
To Ma Taryong the case of Seol-Hwi was like that.
“Even if your basics are of the Demonic Sect, the yin and yang are opposite forces and as the two collide a completely new harmony or something not so harmonious grows.”
“…”
“This… is huge! The captain is now on a path which no one has taken before. Reporting to the official research of the sect is…”
“Vice captain, no.”
Seol-Hwi smiled.
Ma Taryong, who was very excited, tilted his head and asked why.
Many of the skills which Seol-Hwi had learned came from the system, and their origin cannot be traced back since he didn’t have a teacher nor was he anyone’s disciple. The woman was in training, so the lies worked until this point.
If such a story went around the sect, then even she would get interested in this and come out.
And if she sees the martial arts of hers in the hands of Seol-Hwi who she had never taken as a disciple, what will she do? Well… that would be difficult to predict.
“As a proud member of the Demonic Sect, the fact that a member has the attributes of the justice faction is a problem. Until now, I was an unknown man, but if I get attention from people around me, then malicious rumors will spread…”
“The Earth Demon will be in trouble too. That…”
Ma Taryong ended it.
He knew this was similar to the Shaolin and Wudang Sect learning the martial arts of the Demonic Sect.
“But, it is dangerous if this happens…”
Seol-Hwi’s words could be understood, but Ma Taryong was concerned for him.
A road which no one took was like a bomb which can explode at any time.
Seol-Hwi was now someone with two attributes in one body and was of the Peak Demon level.
Things have easily gone beyond control.
And he knew how dangerous it was to be with someone who might have to go through another energy runaway again.
“It is my problem so I will solve it. After all, it is not a problem that will be resolved immediately just by reporting it.”
“…True, but–”
No matter how skilled people were in the sect, they could not come up with an answer right away.
In the case of Seol-Hwi, there was no other point of reference either, so even if they reported this, he would never get a quick answer.
“What are you doing? At this hour?”
Seol-Hwi shook off his complicated thoughts and turned. He was worried that this topic was more burdensome.
“Ah. Right.”
Ma Taryong touched his head and nodded. There was a reason why he had come for Seol-Hwi.
“That is one thing and it might be tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow… that?”
Seol-Hwi could think of what was being mentioned and Ma Taryong nodded.
“Yes, the mission. It seems that the Earth Demon wants to implement it as fast as possible.”
Seol-Hwi felt something happen.
The Supreme Pavilion Lord.
The moment of the decisive battle was one day away.
