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Chapter : 26
My Cheat is a Status Window (26)
On the third day of our stay at the inn,
I received information from Hong Mae.
Zurtagen’s current location was Beihai (North Sea—Lake Baikal), farther beyond the Mongol Plateau.
He had broken away from the Northern Yuan and formed his own power.
Shockingly, the name of that organization was Daera Blood Bridge (大羅血橋)—
meaning A Great Blood Bridge that Stretches Far.
Its affiliated monks were called Blood Bridge Monks.
At this point…
I couldn’t tell anymore whether the status window was reading my future,
or if I was simply moving according to a script it set beforehand.
Either way, my journey with Hyegong now stretched all the way to Beihai.
“We’ve got a long road. Take out another jerky.”
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
Current location:
Inner Mongolia, Xilingol.
We had just passed the Great Wall into the Northern Yuan territory.
From now on, there were no maps, no guides—just stars in the sky to point us north.
Merchants told us it took three months on foot from Beijing to the Northern Yuan capital, Karakorum (哈拉和林).
We had to go even farther—to Beihai—so half a year at least on foot.
“Let’s spar again.”
Hyegong muttered while chewing jerky.
My body ached at those words—but the truth was, I liked it.
During the two months from Kaifeng to here,
we sparred every day.
At first he practically dragged me into it,
but over time it became part of our daily routine.
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
I dropped my travel pack stuffed with jerky and took my stance—
a flamboyant Baekbo Divine Fist pose on the empty grassland.
Hyegong lazily rose, then suddenly—first strike!
—PAAAK!
I barely blocked using Arhat Steps.
I immediately countered.
Tianshan Crushing Peak.
A fist like a falling mountain toward the crown of his bald head.
“Use fajin, boy.”
It was a serious blow, but Hyegong slipped past it like a willow branch in the wind.
—TAT!
His counterstrike sank into my ribs.
“When your mind realm is low, rotate your body with your energy.
Move your body with your qi—easier that way.”
I understood.
Don’t move qi alone—move body and qi together.
That was the key to internal power projection.
‘Let’s try.’
I began rotation from the toes,
drew my body like a taut bowstring,
qi circulating like blood, spiraling upward—
By the time it reached my torso, I felt like a spinning coil.
‘Now!’
White Dragon Emerges from the Sea.
Like releasing a drawn bowstring,
I unleashed everything.
—THWAAANG!
The compressed strike vanished—
then appeared six steps ahead, hammering toward Hyegong.
“Oh? Look at this brat.”
Of course, he blocked it with a flick—
but he was surprised.
“Did… did that count?”
“Yes. That’s fajin.”
“Good martial art.”
“A fine fist art that compensates for a punch’s weakness.”
A fist’s weakness?
Shorter reach than the sword.
Not an issue for someone like the Fist King Hyegong,
but fatal for the likes of me.
With energy projection?
Even sword cultivators hurling sword qi could be handled.
“How long has it been since you started training?”
“Three years.”
“Gahaha—don’t go around saying that.”
“Why not?”
“Perfect for attracting jealousy and envy.”
Jealousy…?
At my level?
“Do I have talent?”
“You do.”
“How much?”
“You remind me of myself when I was young.”
Oh damn…
He was comparing me to himself, a man who reached the Profound Realm.
My mouth split into a grin.
So I was talented…
A pauper orphan from Zhejiang!
“Sit. Rest.”
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
We sat by a rock jutting from the grassland.
The longer we traveled, the more comfortable he became.
“Let’s drink tea.”
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
He boiled water—using martial arts.
His hand chilled, frost forming—
Cold Ice Palm.
He chipped the ice into two cups,
then used Samadhi True Fire to melt and boil it.
Tea + endless plain + daily lessons from the strongest man in the Central Plains—
Perfect.
“Dancheon.”
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
“Become a disciple of Shaolin.”
“Haha—are you offering to accept me?”
“I am.”
“But didn’t you… leave the order?”
“I did.”
“Then you don’t have authority, right?”
“Authority? I’m Hyegong. Who dares question authority?”
Fair point…
But the other monks would hate me, wouldn’t they?
Besides, with the status window dictating my fate,
I was a wanderer for life.
Hyegong told stories—
being abandoned to a monastery,
restoring Shaolin’s fading glory,
fighting Mongol invasions,
suppressing demonic sects,
unifying the fractured orthodox sects to rebuild the Martial Alliance—
He’d lived through chaos.
A life of hardship, triumph, and blood.
It humbled me.
Nothing great is built overnight.
“Now I understand why the eunuch valued you.”
“For delivering the letter?”
“That, but also—you’re just a likable man.”
No one had ever called me that.
With my hulking frame and rough face I heard “scary,” “threatening”—never likable.
Maybe I only appeal to high-realm martial artists?
Or men over a hundred years old…?
Head clear, talent budding, quick-witted—
Hyegong teased and praised.
“I like you too, hyung-nim.”
“Hah! Thought so.”
Two months of sleeping under the sky together builds attachment.
We smiled like fools.
“After we kill Zurtagen, travel with me.
Let’s wipe out the monk vermin.”
“I’d love to—but as you know,
my life is pledged to the status window.”
My will wasn’t my own.
My destination was always dictated by quests.
Unless someday I get a Quit Quest Mode option…
That’d be ideal.
“The artifact of that Otherworld really is trouble.”
“Hyung-nim… what exactly is that ‘Otherworld’?”
I had wondered for a long time.
Hyegong explained:
There are many planes—
Immortal Realm, Mystic Realm, Profound Realm, Otherworld, Illusion Realm,
what some called dimensions.
Our world was merely one of many.
Some recorded ascensions to the Immortal Realm.
Some claimed to have come from Otherworlds.
Those from Otherworlds used arts that were not martial arts at all.
Hence Hyegong’s belief—
my status window was likely an Otherworld artifact.
Convincing.
My master likely lived in one such world.
“Maybe after we handle the Blood Bridge Monks,
the next mission will let us stay together again.”
Given the mission chain so far—
very possible.
“That thought comforts and bothers me.
Feels like someone is watching from above.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Almost godlike.
“What if your artifact keeps giving missions to kill monks?
Wouldn’t that be divine decree?”
He gripped my shoulder and leaned in conspiratorially.
“No mere tool—
a heavenly revelation.”
“Revelation…?”
“Yes. You’d be Heaven’s agent.
Removing the unworthy.”
Was it really that?
Sounded more like Hyegong’s personal vendetta…
He burst out laughing.
“I’m getting a feeling! After we kill the Blood Bridge lot, the mission will say:
‘Bring me Zurtagen’s head!’”
Uhh…
“Monks my ass! Acting like demons!
Let’s slaughter the bastards, Dancheon!”
“Yes… yes, hyung-nim.”
I was rattled.
Could it really be heaven’s decree?
I didn’t feel that.
I didn’t know what the status window was—
but I doubted his theory.
Who was right?
We’d find out soon.
The answer was waiting at Beihai.
