Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 344 (Part 1)



344 (Part 1)

”'<Chapter 345> Rebirth. (4)

Kuuuuuu-!

After a massive wave of heat swept through.

The heat quickly dissipated in the still cold spring breeze.

To be precise it was retrieved back to the qi center before the heat could spread.

Tap… Tap.

The sound of smoldering embers could be heard.

The traces of the remaining flames were softly burning on the ground.

As I calmed the wildly surging qi.

I checked my physical condition.

‘Is there still more than half of the qi left?’

Unlike before when I would have been exhausted after using my energy.

While continuously unleashing the Flame of the Red Sky I still had more than half of my qi remaining.

This was thanks to reaching a new level opening the qi center and expanding my capacity making it much easier to apply efficiently.

I surveyed my surroundings.

The sky was still covered with a black veil.

Even the small openings I had created using the Flame of the Red Sky were quickly filled leaving no gaps.

‘What on earth is that power?’

I focused and observed but I couldn’t confirm anything for now.

It was strange.

If it were formations it would be mysterious and if it were martial arts it would be qualitative.

Could it be the power of a spirit?

That was possible.

I shifted my gaze.

Tap.

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The Shiny Dragon Pavilion building which was on the verge of cracking and collapsing.

Now half of it had been blown away making it ambiguous to even consider it a building.

It was swept away by the explosion of the Great Flame of the Red Sky.

‘…’

I felt a cold sweat trickle down wondering if I had gone too far.

They wouldn’t demand compensation later would they?

Crisp.

I stepped forward crushing the burnt branches beneath my feet.

In the place where the explosion had passed.

Dust filled the air.

I waved my hand to create a gust of wind.

Whoooosh-!

As the wind blew away the dust.

A massive pit filled with traces of flames came into view.

I walked towards it.

At the center of the pit.

Something black was writhing.

It was the martial artist from the previous confrontation.

‘He’s not dead.’

Fortunately it seemed he hadn’t died.

I hadn’t intended to kill him in the first place.

If there was a slight mistake.

It was that I had used my power right after raising my level so I hadn’t been able to control it properly.

It would be troublesome if he died.

I hadn’t figured anything out yet.

“Cough…. Hah… Hah….”

The old man kept spitting out blood.

Fortunately it seemed he had avoided a fatal blow.

Even with enhanced qi surrounding him he didn’t appear to be in a normal state due to being swept away by the explosion.

“… You… you bastard….”

The old man with half of his face melted away.

Gave me a look filled with killing intent.

Was the old man weak?

Not at all.

He was a strong individual.

Would there be any weak ones among those who had reached this level?

Seeing the state of the Clear Sea One Sword I could tell he was an unusual powerhouse.

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Just as there are significant differences even among those at the same level.

When one reaches this level the differences become even more pronounced.

Considering the gap between the old man and me it was considerable.

Nevertheless.

The reason I could bring the old man to this state was ultimately.

‘Even a martial artist at this level can be affected by demonic qi.’

The demonic qi I had embedded in the corner of my qi center had seeped into the old man.

‘•••I’m not completely unscathed either.’

When I fought against the assassin from the Hwangbo family last time.

That old man had only recently reached this level.

So it wasn’t particularly difficult for the demonic qi to infiltrate the qi center.

However this time was a bit different.

‘It was a close call.’

I had to mix in the demonic qi without him noticing during the fight.

But due to the old man’s high level it wasn’t easy for the demonic qi to penetrate.

Moreover.

If he hadn’t crossed the threshold the demonic qi wouldn’t have easily entered.

This means.

‘Upon reaching this level the demonic qi has strengthened.’

At the same time I crossed the threshold the demonic qi within me had also become stronger.

Should I view this positively?

‘No it’s not something to be happy about.’

Thanks to that I could claim victory in the fight.

But the reason for my victory was more due to the assistance of the demonic qi than the level I had established.

There was an unavoidable sense of discomfort lingering.

Moreover the aftereffects of using the demonic qi were still swirling around in my body.

‘I have no internal injuries but there’s still a murky feeling lingering.’

It hadn’t mixed with my energy but if I wasn’t careful it could invade.

Especially since I had just reached this level.

It felt like the contamination from the demonic qi had become particularly intense.

What happened to the purification speed of the Nine Flame Transformation?

I would have to investigate that thoroughly later.

For now I approached the old man.

“Who are you?”

“Cough….”

The old man raised his head gripping the blade at his neck.

There was no respect for the defeated.

Especially if it was an unorthodox sect.

Whether they were orthodox or unorthodox sects a bastard is a bastard so I didn’t particularly care.

“Why are you here?”

“•••You bastard….”

I could see the long scars lined up on the old man’s neck.

Is it a sword wound? Seeing how deep it is.

It seemed to be a rather fatal injury.

Moreover what was a martial artist of this level doing attacking the Shiny Dragon Pavilion?

“Are you not going to speak?”

At my question the old man’s body trembled slightly.

Was it anger or fear?

From what I could see it didn’t seem like fear but rather the former.

Not good.

This meant I would have to resort to torture.

‘He couldn’t have acted alone. I need to grasp the situation.’

But the situation wasn’t relaxed enough for that.

In fact I didn’t care much about what happened to the others.

‘•••But not the kids.’

I couldn’t disregard those involved around me.

The reason I had struggled in the demonic realm to raise my level was for them.

For myself.

And for them.

Now that the situation had become chaotic.

I needed to understand what was happening with the kids.

Even while thinking this I couldn’t help but frown.

‘It’s not good that I have more to protect.’

Unlike what I had originally planned.

The number of people I needed to protect had increased.

While I viewed my changed life from my past positively.

Thinking about the future I couldn’t help but feel somewhat suffocated.

Time was tight.

Should I torture him?

There wasn’t enough time to torture him properly.

Above all it was still difficult to control my enhanced power.

So it was somewhat challenging to torture him in detail.

Especially since he was in such a state.

As I pondered what to do for a moment.

“•••Hehe….”

The old man suddenly let out a laugh.

“Why are you laughing?”

Is he losing his mind since he’s dying?

That wouldn’t do. He should say what he needs to say before dying.

“•••You have scary eyes.”

“What do you mean?”

“Those eyes are pondering how to kill me…. I’ve seen many with eyes like yours. It’s only natural. They were all from unorthodox sects.”

“And so?”

Is he trying to insult me by saying my eyes are fierce?

“Those who have eyes like that…. All ended up buried in the ground by my hands and now I’ve become like that hehe….”

“So what? Do you want me to feel sorry for you and spare you?”

Has he lost his mind?

The old man is saying ridiculous things.

Flame.

I wrapped fire around my hand.

Unlike at its peak the color and intensity showed a clear difference.

Seeing the flames wrapped around my hand the old man spoke dejectedly.

“You… are you really a child of the orthodox sect?”

“Of course where else would you find someone as diligent as me in the orthodox sect?”

I’m cleaning up the unorthodox sects so who else could be orthodox sects if I’m not?

After a moment of contemplation I organized my thoughts.

‘I’ll kill him.’

!

….

I decided not to torture him but to kill him.

The situation wasn’t good and he didn’t seem like someone worth gaining anything from.”’