6 – Change (1)

No. 17 was the best in the Cave of Latent Demons.

Woon Seong didn’t think she was just the best in terms of talent, he also thought she was the best in how she carried herself among the other children.

On top of that, every one of her behaviors had purpose and meaning behind them.

‘Considering the actions and behaviors of the instructors, it’s safe to say she has quite a background.’

Woon Seong also didn’t exclude the possibility that she might have a relative that was a high-ranking member of the Cult.

He was sure it was one of the two.

Either she came to the Cave of Latent Demons to get stronger by her own choice, or she was forced by her family to come.

However, none of this had anything to do with Woon Seong.

‘How would she react if I showed my true talent?’

That was Woon Seong’s only concern.

However, it was a little surprising that No. 17 actually came and visited him, who was ranked No. 900, out of her own volition.

“What do you want?”

Woon Seong stared at No. 17 beyond the wooden door with a slightly cold look.

At the words, No. 17 gazed slowly at Woon Seong and opened her mouth.

“You did it, didn’t you?”

‘What?’

At the mysterious words from No.17, Woon Seong stared at No. 17 silently.

Of course, the matter of No. 185 passed through Woon Seong’s mind briefly.

“No. 185.”

‘Ugh.’

At the words of No. 17, the Woon Seong clicked his tongue.

‘Was she watching?’

His weak body and talent that was still making improvements, wasn’t helping him right now, seeing that she must have been able to sneak by his senses.

It wasn’t just the realm of Woon Seong that had lowered, but his senses were still slightly dull because of his body that still lacked a lot of things.

“Yeah, but it’s not like I broke any of the rules here.”

“So you’ve been hiding your power all along haven’t you?”

Woon Seong glared coldly at No. 17.

“Why should I tell you even if I was, it’s not like you’re any different.”

No. 17 despite being ranked so high, was actually also hiding a vast amount of her talent and power. Of course even though Woon Seong’s senses might have dulled a little bit, it wasn’t like he could blatantly miss that kind of thing, especially if the person in question was right in front of him.

When Woon Seong pointed out that fact, No. 17’s eyes widened with surprise.

“You knew?”

“…….”

When Woon Seong did not answer, No. 17 smiled faintly.

“You’re interesting.. hehe!”

As Woon Seong predicted, No. 17 was one of the descendants of the high-ranking members of the Cult.

Thanks to this, her skills were already incredibly strong that it was hard to find an opponent among her peers.

Even the instructors couldn’t underestimate her ability.

Ordinary children would not notice that No. 17 was hiding her power, which was normal.

However, Woon Seong spoke of it as if it were an obvious fact right in front of her.

“It’s because I have some pretty good eyes for that type of thing.”

At the words of No. 17, Woon Seong replied brusquely.

She had already seen himself knock down No. 185 with incredible ease.

It didn’t matter to Woon Seong that she was hiding her power; what concerned him, was her cleverness.

Furthermore, stating the fact that she was hiding her power, it was an indirect threat.

However, it seemed that the indirect threat from Woon Seong had gotten through to her.

She pressed her lips lightly with her fingertips.

“Well, then I guess I’ll keep your secret for a while. By the way…….”

It was a bit of a surprise that she did not just turn around and leave but rather, wanted to leave some words for Woon Seong.

Woon Seong glared daggers at No. 17 preparing for any kind of counter-threats she might give.

“No. 185 was gnashing his teeth at you.”

Woon Seong sighed at her words.

It seemed she was still a child by heart and in her sincerity.

Perhaps she had gained some confidence in thinking that No. 900, Woon Seong, had only just learned the basics of Qi cultivation that day.

She probably thought that he didn’t really have that much power, but she still thought he was interesting.

Her line of thinking was a common mistake for those who had high praise from a young age and had little experience in the true world of Murim.

However, he already knew what he would do with No. 185 if he dared go again after he spared him and clearly told him that there would be no second chances with mercy…….

‘If he does I’ll kill him.’

By the time Woon Seong calmly wrapped up his thoughts, No. 17 spoke again with a cheery and innocent voice.

“Wow, you’re so calm. You must be able to knock down No. 185 any time you want.”

“I’ve told you this before, but don’t talk about it as if you’re any different. You should know well that this Cave of Latent Demons is not a place you can slack around in”

“What? Hahaha….HAHAHAHAH!”

Woon Seong’s words made No. 17 laugh loudly into laughter.

The eyes of the children who were outside still in the hall turned and all focused in the direction of where No. 17 and Woon Seong were talking.

“My name is Ah-Young. My last name is a secret. So it’s just Ah-Young. What about you?

Woon Seong, clearing his throat hinting to No. 17 to get lost.

“No. 900. That’s all you need to know.”

Boom-

At the end of the sentence, Woon Seong shut the door coldly on Ah-Young.

Ah-Young kept her smile though even after getting the door shut on her, her eyes twinkling in half-crescents as if she had just found something incredibly interesting.

“He’s so interesting..hehe.. I’ll guess I’ll have to wait and see.”—

Three days passed by.

During that time, Woon Seong tried to fuse the Dark Flower Red Spirit and the Orthodox Tempered Qi

Of course, it was incredibly difficult to try and fuse two completely different cultivation methods into one.

However, it wasn’t impossible. Also, Woon Seong was incredibly well versed in the countless types of qi cultivation methods that were located within the Spearmaster Sect’s library.

Despite the Spearmaster Sect only being a Sect that had a single successor, it had accumulated countless amounts of literature and qi cultivation methods.

‘There’s nothing impossible in the world of martial arts. I just need to be meticulous and take it slowly.’

In fact, there had already been some tangible results.

To some extent, the two methods began to fuse already.

Of course, there were still certain pathways and flows that had not been fused yet.

But Woon Seong could go over each and every one of those and fuse them one by one.

At night, he practiced the Heavenward Soul Earthen Body.

Woon Seong also faithfully participated in daytime training.

First, on the third day, he raised his hand that signaled that he felt energy within him.

The instructors, who did not expect much from a talentless No. 900, were a little surprised.

It was much faster than expected for them.

However, they did not believe that No. 900 at first, but when they confirmed it by feeling the pathways and flow of qi that Woon Seong had allowed them to see, they could not deny reality.

Shortly after revealing the fact he could feel energy within his body, the way he trained was slightly changed by the instructors.

On the fifth day-

There were two incredibly noticeable changes for him.

First of all, the weight of the iron ring on the arms and legs increased by half.

The total number of pathways he had opened with his new cultivation method was 10, and he had succeeded in successfully fusing 4 of them completely.

Another change was the fact that small balls were given to the children during their morning mountain climbing.

‘Don’t let go of the ball and also don’t let it get taken away by others.’

If the ball was taken away, there was no breakfast even if the children were successful in bringing a flag down.

On the other hand, even if you couldn’t bring a flag down, you would be given breakfast if you somehow collected three balls.

There was a constant scramble among the children to take the flags and balls from each other.

As this change started to get fully implemented, the children naturally learned how to use their bodies properly through several scuffles and fights from the cutthroat addition to the morning training.

Of course, Woon Seong clicked his tongue when he saw the other kids starting fighting with each other.

“I can’t believe you’re using a simple capture the flag type of training like this.’

It was an indirect way of training the children to know what desperation was, and what fighting for your life on the line meant.

‘It doesn’t matter to me though, because I will not bow to anyone if it comes to meeting my goals.’

Of course, Woon Seong never lost his flag or ball. He clearly distinguished himself among the other kids by knocking them down mercilessly.

‘It wouldn’t be bad to show some of my skills if it means shaking off these annoying bastards.’

Woon Seong had started to become aware that the instructors had started to observe him more in secret, but they did that for all promising individuals so he knew it wasn’t a bad thing.

Especially since he had openly shown incredible speed in regards to qi cultivation, their gazes had become more keen. 

As Woon Seong steadily strengthened his position, No. 185, who had been stubborn and starting to plot revenge, did not dare to attack Woon Seong.

When Woon Seong had first felt the energy, he knew he had to start distinguishing himself from that point on. It was not a question anymore since the fork in the road was coming near.The fork in the road had two options. Become strong, or be the weak ones who were trampled on.

And so… another year in the Cave of Latent Demons had passed.

* * *

A year was by no means a long time, nor was it a short time.

However, considering the children’s ages, it was clear that a year was by no means .

No wonder, over the past year, the appearance of the children in the Cave of Latent Demons had changed remarkably.

It was only a year, but the boys began to develop their muscles, jaw lines and their respective masculine traits.

On the other hand, even the girls began to show a very small, but feminine appearance.

It wasn’t just changes related to gender physiques however.

The children’s gazes were sharpened and their mentalities had started to show qualitative changes.

The daily competition over meals was getting fiercer day by day.

Of course, what was distinctively different in this past year, was that not a single child dared to provoke Woon Seong, otherwise known as No. 900 to them.

For the past year, the children were well aware of the fact that Woon Seong had been undefeated in combat, just like No. 17.

Sometimes, after several consecutive victories, there were some people who rushed to their confidence thinking that he might be exhausted, but they were ruthlessly crushed by Woon Seongs hands before they had even taken 5 steps near him..

What happened a month ago was also crucial in their decision to consciously avoid any kind of contact with Woon Seong.

When Woon Seong received his meal in the morning once again, without missing a single meal for over a year, some of the children who saw this with bitterness  joined together into a large group and tried to attack Woon Seong.

For once, the other children observing this take place, thought that No. 900 had finally met his match.

However, the result was one that not even the instructors observing Woon Seong from the shadows expected.

Woon Seong completely demolished and ruthlessly beat all 5 of them with complete and utter ease.

Since then, the other children had to make a conscious effort to even avoid eye contact with Woon Seong.

Even No. 185, which was looking for a chance to exploit and exact his revenge, completely avoided Woon Seong’s gaze.

‘Pft. Even I can’t adjust to this change in treatment.’

Woon Seong smiled and laughed internally at the children who were clearly trying to avoid his eyes.

Over the past year, there had been many changes that Woon Seong had undergone..

First of all, the effect of the Heavenward Soul Earthen Body began to develop his body in earnest and was clearly making visible changes.

His bone and muscle density and even cognitive abilities had increased several fold. Even No. 185 who had been almost 2 heads taller than him just a year ago, was barely a few centimeters taller than Woon Seong recently.

On top of that, my shoulders began to broaden quite a bit.

Now it was hard for anyone to imagine that Woon Seong’s current body belonged to the old No. 900.

‘It’s not fully completed, but if I can break through a few more meridians, I can exert more force than I currently can by several fold.’

At least that’s what the Woon Seong thought.

Both his internal and external frame had been tempered by both the Heavenward Soul Earthen Body and his newly completed cultivation technique that he had been working on developing the past year. He had named this technique after much deliberation.

Tempered True Blossom (磨砂真花) : The firm and unshaking roots will bloom a true flower.

It was the result of fusing the Dark Flower Red Spirit and Orthodox Tempered Qi cultivation techniques.It was something even Woon Seong felt shocked from the strength this cultivation technique could possibly cultivate for him.