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Chapter : 31
My Opportunity Is the Status Window (31)
—Chuaaak!
“Krgh!”
My back burned hot.
I stamped out my Nahan Footwork at full strength to dodge, but the blood whip raked across my back anyway.
“You’ve got some skills for a mere martial artist!”
They were toying with me.
If they wanted to kill me, they could have subdued me long ago.
Maybe they want me alive.
‘There are too many.’
If it were one or two, I might have managed.
But there were over ten.
And only three were actually fighting me—
the rest just stood there watching with their arms crossed.
Of course, if the situation shifted, they’d all jump in.
Hundred-Step Divine Fist—Thunder-Treading Godstep.
I dodged the incoming whip by flattening myself, then drove a full-power kick into the monk’s shin.
My best shot yet.
This time I was sure I could at least blow away his knee.
—Squelch
—Crack!
“……!!”
But suddenly blood whips shot from all sides and wrapped around my ankle.
Too fast, too many—no way to avoid them.
“Uaaaagh!”
They pulled from every direction at once, yanking me into the air.
I’m sure I looked like a pig leg hung up at a butcher shop.
“Hahaha! This one—we can drag him back just like this.”
“Yeah, bind his limbs too.”
—Squelch-squelch.
Dozens more whips lashed around me.
They wrapped my other leg and both arms and hoisted me like a spread-eagle criminal about to be executed.
Once I was completely restrained, the Blood Monks gathered.
“Hey, martial brat. Where’d you come from?”
The flashiest-looking of them asked with a mocking tone.
And… why are these bastards speaking Central Plains speech?
Were they originally from Zhongyuan?
“Zhejiang Province.”
“No. I’m asking which sect.”
Sect.
I didn’t have one.
“I belong to the Martial Alliance.”
I said the biggest name I could, hoping it might rattle him even a little.
“The Martial Alliance is a sect? Is this fool stupid? He doesn’t understand words.”
“Hahaha! My lord, that’s probably why he attacked our cult!”
“Indeed?”
He didn’t react at all to the Martial Alliance.
He downright treated martial artists like insects.
So that’s how cultivators see us.
“My lord, in my humble opinion… this brat is likely an out-of-temple disciple of Shaolin.”
“Shaolin?”
“Yes. The fist technique he used—looked like the Hundred-Step Divine Fist.”
“Hoh… Shaolin dogs came this far?”
“A petty sense of justice, no doubt.”
“Damn monk bastards.”
He shook his head like he couldn’t believe it.
“You people are from the Central Plains?”
“Central Plains? Hahaha! So what if we are? Hoping shared homeland pity saves your life?”
“Hahahahaha!”
They roared with laughter.
Asking if they were from Zhongyuan was funny?
Idiots.
“We are cultivators. We threw away mortal ties long ago. Don’t expect anything, boy.”
“My lord, let’s take him. The Church Lord is waiting. He’ll be delighted we caught an intruder.”
“Haha! Credit for us again!”
‘They don’t know the situation!’
From their chatter, I realized they had no clue what was going on.
Their “Church Lord” obviously meant Zulthagen.
The way they casually said he was waiting and would be pleased meant
—they had zero information about his current condition.
And the “intruder”… that must be Hyegong.
But they clearly mistook me for him.
“But what about the brat in the back meditating?”
“Huh? Oh, the one this guy was carrying earlier. Must be an ally. I’ll go get him.”
Meditating?
I forced my head to twist toward where my brother was.
“……!!”
Hyung sat cross‑legged, utterly serene.
His skin, once black-red with corruption, was fully restored.
He survived!
Relief poured out of me.
We were going to get out of this alive.
Sure, my Hundred-Year Pure Heart Dew was gone—but trading it for life was a win.
—Wooooooooom.
“…What the!”
A familiar resonance—and panicked shouts.
Yeah. You bastards.
You’re all dead now.
* * *
Hyegong regained clarity and, in an instant, slaughtered the Blood Monks who mocked me.
His Kanghwan blade danced, punching holes through bodies, ending the mess almost immediately.
I thought he’d charge straight back to Zulthagen,
but no.
Hyegong decided: we run. Fast.
He said Zulthagen would recover quickly, and he himself wasn’t fully normal yet.
And more importantly—
his sharpened senses detected Zulthagen’s real subordinates closing in.
Not the weaklings we faced at the temple, but powerful ones.
Cruel spells, deadly spiritual power—monsters.
So Hyegong threw me on his back and ran.
No—he flew.
He folded ground beneath his feet.
Mountains, grasslands, forests blurred and snapped away.
Rivers crossed in only a few leaps.
We barely ate or drank, running like death was chasing us—because it was.
We crossed the Great Wall, and eventually Hyegong sensed no more cultivators.
On the sixth day of escape,
we crossed out of the Northern Plains and into Ming territory.
We were free.
* * *
Weichang, Hebei.
A border fortress town between Ming and the North.
In the finest inn room, we ate food cooked by someone else for the first time in ages, slept in real beds, and woke in comfort.
“Hooo…”
Beside me, Hyegong meditated again, purging yet more poison.
Nearly a week had passed…
Yet every time he circulated his qi, thick black-red miasma oozed out.
‘So vicious…’
Zulthagen’s sorcery.
Terrifyingly vile.
Even a martial artist at his level was suffering like this.
Someone like me? I’d have died with no resistance.
“You awake?”
“Yes, did you sleep well?”
“I did.”
He smiled.
I rubbed my eyes and reached for the teapot.
Morning means tea first.
Of course Hyung already warmed it.
“Care for a cup?”
“Gladly.”
Pour—
One for him, one for me.
I passed him a cup.
“Thank you.”
Casual, but sincere.
Yeah.
You’d better thank me.
I fed you my precious Hundred-Year Pure Heart Dew.
Sure, I did it to stay alive myself… hehe.
“You’re welcome.”
“You saved my life.”
“And you saved mine.”
“If you left me, you’d still be alive, and that elixir would be yours.”
Nah.
I’d never outrun the pursuers without him.
His standard for escape was impossible for me.
“That was never an option.”
Got to say the right thing—
so the debt sits deep in his heart. Hehe.
“…I see. Thank you.”
He nodded, as if making a decision.
“Dancheon.”
“Yes, Hyung.”
“To be honest, until we reached the North Sea,
I didn’t fully trust you.”
“Yes.”
Fair.
It’s dangerous to trust strangers.
“We heard your story about the status window, but I still thought you might be a cultivator spy.
Even the tiniest chance you were an East Vault agent.
And I suspected the imperial court might be infiltrated too.”
Ugh.
Both are wrong.
Paranoid monk.
“I’m neither.”
“Yes. I see that now.
More than that—you saved my life. I owe you.”
“We owe each other.”
“Hahaha. Indeed.
In any case, I should repay that debt.”
Repay?
What’s he giving me?
Whatever it is—I’ll happily take it. Heh.
“Oh-ho? What will you give me?”
“I must give something.
I may not look like I have much…”
He tapped his temple.
“But there is a great deal stored in here.”
“Ah…”
Wait.
Is he—
Going to teach me martial arts?
One of the Shaolin arts that made him a top master?
“I will teach you martial arts. Whatever you choose.”
“……!”
He meant it.
Not even one he chooses—
I choose.
He really means to thank me.
“But… is that okay? Shaolin won’t like it.”
“That’s fine. I am Shaolin.”
“Haha… don’t say that in public…”
“In chaotic times, if I hadn’t protected Shaolin, it would have fallen.
I earned this right.
Don’t worry.
More pressing—what is your new mission?”
“My new mission is to go to Shaolin.”
“To Shaolin?”
“Yes. I’m to deliver this… to Master Myeongwon.”
I took out the necklace I had hidden in my clothes.
The prayer beads crudely tied twice—
threaded with the relics of Master Wonjong.
Status Window.
[ Goal: Deliver Master Wonjong’s relics to Myeongwon ]
[ Time Limit: 211 days 7 hours ]
[ Reward: 20 Intermediate Qi Cores ]
[ Penalty: None ]
I summoned the window to confirm.
Deliver to Myeongwon—clear.
Reward: twenty intermediate cores—quantity over quality, but not bad.
And no penalty for failure.
Do it if I want—skip it if not.
But of course I’m doing it!
Just carrying the relic there?
Free reward.
Only a fool would refuse.
“Let’s go together. I’ll teach you techniques along the way.”
Ohhh.
Perfect.
Two birds with one stone.
“Gladly.”
“But that mission… remarkable. Delivering relics to Myeongwon.”
“It is.”
“Myeongwon will be very happy.”
“When relics are delivered… is there a memorial rite?”
“Yes. Though very late…
We must finally chant so he can return to the cycle of rebirth.”
Reincarnation…
Does it really exist?
I once thought death was the end.
Now… I’m not so sure.
“Master…”
Hyegong reached out, placing a hand on the relic beads.
“I am terribly late…”
Did I imagine it?
His eyes looked a little red.
“Song Mountain is unchanged.
If we go now, the autumn leaves should be breathtaking…
I will bring you home soon.”
Something tightened in my chest.
I could feel his heart—
joy at reclaiming a lost ancestor’s spirit?
Regret?
Not sure.
But I know one thing:
The relic stays with me.
It’s my quest.
I’ll personally carry it all the way to Shaolin.
And deliver it safely.
Done!
Let me know if you want:
✔ a more literal translation
✔ names left romanized differently
✔ a summary instead of full text
✔ tone tweaks (more modern / more archaic)
