Childhood Friend of the Zenith-Chapter 168: True Dragon (2)
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â True Dragon (2) â
âHeâs apparently now being called the True Dragon.â
âWho? The victor of this tournament?â
On the day of the finals of the tournament, the crowd was more spirited than ever.
Something like this would always happen on the final day of the tournament, but the spirit of the crowd this year was in a whole different league when compared to the previous tournaments.
Was it because a new dragon had been born?
Or, was it because this tournament had shown a number of stars greater than any other?
It could even be that the spirits of the spectators hadnât yet calmed down due to the performance that boy had shown on the arena stage.
A man spoke up quietly from between the crowd, seemingly not fond of the heated spirits of others.
âTrue Dragon? Isnât that title a bit too much? A real dragon they sayâŚâ
âHah! Then does that mean other dragons like the Lightning Dragon and the Sword Dragon are fake?â
âI could just tell that this yearâs tournament only consisted of kids that barely even grew hair, so how great could their fights even be?â
âLook at this man.â
When the man mumbled, others that listened to him all let out a sigh.
Right as one person was about to say something to the manâŚ
âJust let him be, that Kim Chung is only salty that he couldnât come see the tournament because he apparently had work.â
âDid I say something wrong though? The Sword Dragon, Water Dragon, or even the Sword Phoenix; none of them came, so how did any of you have any fun in watching this yearâs tournamentâŚâ
The man named Kim Chung only continued to empty his cup filled with alcohol with a frown on his face.
Merchant Cheon, seeing that, smiled a bit.
âHe really is salty.â
It made sense since everyone had such heated excitement.
As such, he couldnât help but be mad, since he wasnât able to see any of the fights.
âHe should have just come when I had asked him to.â
Merchant Cheon knew something like this would happen when Kim Chung refused to come, giving the excuse that there was no point in coming as half of the Dragons and Phoenixes werenât even present.
But contrary to everyoneâs expectation of it being lacking, this tournament exceeded everyoneâs expectation.
Merchant Cheon could even dare to say that this was the most memorable tournament that he had seen in his life.
It could only have made sense.
After all, three young prodigies had earned a title at their debut appearance, one of them even earning the throne of the True Dragon.
âBut even so, what the hell even is a True DragonâŚ?â
âWell I think itâs rather cool, what are you even so upset about?â
âI heard that he still has a long way to go until he reaches the age of twenty, so Iâm sure such an arrogant title befits him.â
âWho even cares about age, if he is worthy enough, then simply he shall be called that.â
âThatâs exactly why it doesnât make sense. I get that he has talentâŚbut you guys should know if you watched the tournament. Iâm sure the Murim Alliance did something in order to-â
Kim Chung looked if there was anyone that agreed with him, but everyone just mockingly smiled at him.
âMurim Alliance doing something behind the scenes? Stop making us laugh.â
âI get that you are saying this because you didnât watch the fight, but boy are you a stubborn man.â
âThen, do you all think that such a young martial artist like him is worthy enough to be called the True Dragon?â
To this question, Merchant Cheon spoke up himself.
âMore than enough.â
âMerchant Cheon?â
Kim Chung looked at Merchant Cheon with shocked eyes.
It was because Merchant Cheon wasnât the type to barge into a conversation like this.
Merchant Cheon spoke while looking at Kim Chung.
âYou may not know the boyâs worth since you didnât get to see him fight, but at the very least I do.â
When Merchant Cheon had watched the finals of the tournament, he was rendered speechless.
Because even he himself, who didnât even know the meaning of the âMartialâ in Martial Arts, was able to see that the boy was in a whole different league compared to the other young prodigies.
Furthermore, his son, who was watching the fight with him, even said that he would quit martial arts and would instead work in the shop.
It was because he wasnât confident enough to live amongst such people.
And Merchant Cheon respected his sonâs decision, because he would do the exact same thing if he was in his sonâs shoes.
âI guess you can say that talent is horrifying in situations like this.â
The talent of a merchant lies in their eyes of seeing others.
They buy products at a cheap price and sell them for a higher price.
Merchants need to learn many things in order to succeed in their business.
And the most important of them all was that they needed to be able to find something worthy amongst cheap things.
âBut unfortunately, I lack such eyes.â
Merchant Cheon knew his place.
He knew that if he had such eyes, he would have become a well-known merchant in Hanam, unlike his current position of owning a small market.
However, he didnât completely lack them either.
After surviving in this industry for a long time, he had naturally gained an ability to see through some things.
âYou said that itâs a bit too much for him to be called the True Dragon? I disagree with that.â
âThen are you saying that the title, True Dragon, is deserving of him?â
âDeserving? That title is actually lacking.â
Merchant Cheon actually wondered about this.
Why did the Murim Alliance not give the boy the title of The Heavenly Dragon?
In Merchant Cheonâs eyes, the performance the True Dragon showed was far more powerful than the performance Peng Woojin had shown when he debuted.
âI heard that the Heavenly Dragon spot was already taken, was that really true?â
That was the rumor that had spread throughout the world.
That someone was already appointed to the spot of the Heavenly Dragon.
âThere is no way thatâs true.â
When the tournament ended and the Alliance Leader was saying good job to everyoneâŚ
Merchant Cheon had observed carefully.
Jang Seonyeon, who was being called The New Star, had lost to his opponent, The True Dragon.
âI canât believe he was able to maintain his calmness despite his son being overpowered onesidedly.â
For Merchant Cheon, who saw how Jang Seonyeon lost in such a humiliating way, it was very shocking that the Alliance Leader was showing himself as the leader of Murim Alliance, and not as a father who had just watched his sonâs defeat.
This was why Merchant Cheon couldnât believe such a rumor.
âKim Chung, stop embarrassing yourself. Come, sit down and letâs talk about something different.â
âHe is acting really childish at his age just because he didnât get to see some tournament.â
âThough even I would have regretted for the rest of my life if I didnât get to see this tournament.â
Merchant Cheon understood Kim Chungâs feelings.
Because a martial artist that would change the generation was born in this tournament no matter who looked at it.
And there was probably nothing more disappointing than not being able to see this process as a person of this world.
Merchant Cheon pictured a boyâs face in his mind.
âTrue DragonâŚâ
The boy, who one knew nothing about besides his surname, was now being called the True Dragon of Shanxiâs Gu Clan.
The boy had achieved all of this in just three days of his first debut in the Martial World.
And this made Merchant Cheon wonder if this would send waves of impact throughout the world.
HoweverâŚ
âI am a bit concerned about his look at the last moment.â
Merchant Cheon remembered the boy that had way too heavy of an expression for a young boy to make.
The boy who had just won the tournament that all other young prodigies could only dream of winning, had a rather strange reaction.
Others thought that the boy looked cool because he wasnât happy about winning in a mere tournament.
The nonsense that other people said was that a genius like him would have a unique reaction such as that.
But in the eyes of Merchant Cheon, it didnât seem that way.
******************
In a field far away from the tournament arenaâŚ
I stood still, alone.
As I watched the snow fall downâŚ
The snow slowly stacked up into a pileâŚ
Yet unlike such a simple process, my mind was plagued with thoughts far too complicated.
-I, Dok Gojun, seek you, child.
At the last moment of the duel, I couldnât seem to forget about the name that the bastard had told me.
âDok Gojun.â
It was the first time I heard that name.
Both in this life and my past one.
The name didnât seem to be from any clan, nor did it hint to any clan.
It really was a name that I heard for the first time in my life.
âWho is itâŚWho can it even be?â
Who was it, I wonder.
The person that had spoken to me while borrowing Jang Seonyeonâs bodyâŚ
How could anyone be capable of such a thing?
Was that person an existence similar to Elder Shin?
But something felt different for me to conclude that.
That existence had given me the chilling sensation of what felt like a sword aimed right at my head. It was extremely different from Elder Shin.
If I had to compare, it felt similar to the enigmatic aura of the Heavenly Demon.
âIt might be a stretch to compare it to the Heavenly Demon, but there are undeniable similarities.â
The Heavenly Demon, often revered as a God, of course exuded much more potent off an Aura, but that sensation felt definitely close.
It also made me wonder what that bastard inside me was.
âFor fucks sakeâŚCanât everyone just leave me alone so that I could have a peaceful life?â
Whenever I finish one thing, another pops up to make my life even more complicated.
I already felt like I was crumbling due to the weight of the numerous things inside my body.
If there really was a God, then I for sure knew that they werenât on my side.
âAt least say something, instead of keeping your mouth shut.â
My frustrated voice, that I couldnât hold in, quietly scattered away along with the wind.
My voice reverberated in a field void of anyone but myself, yet I wasnât speaking to myself.
âYou were so talkative before? So, why the silence now?â
The being that had emerged in the final moments of the tournament to devour the energy.
I had tried speaking to that mysterious entity residing inside my body, but ever since Jang Seonyeon had lost consciousness, it had remained silent.
âFor fucks sakeâŚâ
I had simply dismissed it as a curse I got in the process of regression.
Since this ability, Demonic Absorption, was a power that belonged to the Heavenly Demon, it wasnât strange for any side effects to appear.
I had taken it as me still not being able to escape the grasp of the Heavenly Demon even with time passing, yet, it seemed like there was more to it than that.
âIs there something that you want from me? Why does everyone create a hassle for me?â
I couldnât help but speak in a harsh tone due to all the complicated thoughts lingering in my mind.
Did Jang Seonyeon have that power to begin with?
Or did he tamper with something in order to change the past?
âThough it is more than possible that I simply didnât know about this.â
Judging by how a lot of things I learned in this life seemed to differ from what I knew from my past life, there was a good chance that it was the same for this as well.
âWhoâs the mastermind?â
Not only was the Black Palace using a poor imitation of Demonic Qi, they were also doing some suspicious things in order to grow some weird flower.
Jang Seonyeon was plotting behind the scenes as well.
I hadnât cared if it was the right path or not, because I was far from a hero.
Still, it is concerning that I hadnât known about this.
âWhat should I do?â
Should I start making some plans now that I have learned about it?
I also had to think about the possibility of their side having information about me, since when the bastard possessing Jang Seonyeonâs body had spoken to me, it already seemed to have known my identity.
Finding myself stuck in this utterly complicated situation made me bite my lips and scream out loud. I couldnât take it anymore.
âTell me if there is something you want. Only then can I consider whether to grant your wish or not.â
I tried to speak to the entity living inside my body.
Although I had no intention of actually granting his request even if it spoke up, I still felt like I would feel better if I heard anything from the beast inside me.
âSighâŚâ
I rubbed my face with my hands.
Then I repeatedly dried and washed my face.
It was probably because of this, that despite completing all the plans for my Hanam trip, I didnât feel better.
âA gift huh.â
The last words uttered by that bastard Dok Gujun about the gift they had rewarded me.
It wasnât long after, I was able to realize what they meant by that.
I asked with a smirk on my face.
âYou devoured everything else fine, so whatâs your problem with all of this?â
The energy that I had absorbed from Jang Seonyeon.
To be more accurate, the energy that Dok Gojun had given me wasnât really getting purified properly inside my body.
Just like how the Demonic Qi had taken over a spot in my dantian, this piece of shit energy was doing the same and was making itself home.
âIs it even getting purified?â
My Fire Qi purified Demonic Qi as soon as I absorbed it, seemingly devouring it.
But what about this energy?
âI donât know.â
I didnât get the sensation of it being purified.
Instead, it felt more like it was combining with my Fire Qi.
I rubbed my stomach and started to charge my strength.
SsssâŚ
My Qi then started to flow inside my body and spread everywhere.
It was a basic process of enhancing my body with Qi.
And as long as I donât use Gu Clanâs art of using heat to enhance my body even further, it should just end there.
ââŚSigh.â f reewe bnovel
But when I focused more into my dantian, I was able to feel the energy that was hiding itself, mixing into my Qi.
Then, I was able to feel my strength getting enhanced in an instant.
This was the gift that Dok Gojun was referring to.
Just like how Jang Seonyeon and Namgung Cheonjun could, I, too, was now able to use that shitty energy.
âThis is crazy.â
I didnât say this because I was happy.
Instead it was because I felt bothered. It felt like I had another shackle onto myself.
One unknown energy was already enough for me.
No, even one was a bit hard to deal with.
I could already tell that by moving my body slightly.
This energy wasnât all positive, it had a negative effect.
I was able to feel that the energy was being consumed at an absurdly rapid rate, but it gave me overpowering power in return.
Furthermore, it didnât just end with my body being enhanced.
Blaze.
I mixed some of the energy into my Qi and summoned a flame in my hand.
I wondered if I could do something like this since Jang Seonyeonâs martial skills were enhanced as well.
ââŚFucking hell.â
I couldnât help but curse out loud when I saw the blazing flame in my hand.
Instead of the flame mixed with Taoist Qi shining in a bright light, it was burning passionately with a blue color.
âThisâll surely attract everyoneâs eyes.â
Just the color of the flame made it look like some witchcraft.
I couldnât believe it changed the color of the flame. đđ§đđđđđŤđŁđ¸đŤđđľ.đđ¤đś
âI canât even explain this to Father if he ever catches onto this.â
Not only Father, but I couldnât imagine what others of the clan would say to me if they found out.
What excuse could I even give?
Do I say something like I dyed my flames with the gift I got in Hanam?
âHahahaha! Fuck me.â
My head started to ache.
Clench!
I clenched my fist and exploded the flame.
And when I summoned the flame again,
Blaze-
âIt returned to its original form.â
The flame returned to its original color.
It seems like itâs different depending on my use of the energy.
âI think I can hide it as long as I try.â
It was one thing that made me glad out of all the misfortunes. As I had calmed the energy down and was about to make my way back,
ââŚ!â
I suddenly felt dizzy and my body started to falter.
Fortunately, it was only for a moment, so I was able to regain my posture.
âIs this the energyâs recoil?â
I had only used it for a tiny amount of time, yet the recoil of it was this bad.
Now I understand why Jang Seonyeon had tried his best not to use it.
But one thing that made me wonder wasâŚ
If I recall correctly, considering the amount of time Jang Seonyeon had used this energy for, he wouldâve used much more of the energy, thus the recoil shouldâve been much greater.
But that bastard looked just fine.
âItâs either that the recoil I receive is greater or that I consume more energy.â
Whichever it was, it didnât change the fact that it wasnât something good, so it was still a shitty situation I was in.
But even in a situation like this, I had to forcefully lift myself up.
ââŚI wonât collapse for something like this.â
No matter how much the world pits against me, it was still better than my past life.
No one that I cared about had died in this world and I was given the chance to get rid of the ones that had given me scars in my past life, with my own hands.
As such, I should be able to endure this much.
âHow exhaustingâŚâ
Still, I was starting to feel tired.
My body may have been heated, but the cold breeze felt rather difficult to handle.
Was it because it was especially cold today?
Or perhaps I missed that sleeping elder, a very tiny bit?
Not only did I miss Elder Shin a little, I also wanted to ask him about something.
For some reason, I felt like Elder Shin would know something about Dok Gojun.
Though, I didnât know why I got that feeling.
âSo wake up already, old man.â
******************
After practicing with the new energy by myself for a while, I came back to the guesthouse.
The sun had already set and since the tournament came to an end, it seemed that not a lot of people were left in the area.
Events like the congratulation ceremony from the Alliance Leader to the victor of the tournament and the fight for second place between Namgung Bi-ah and Moyong Hi-ah remained, but it seemed like they werenât too important for some people.
âIt makes sense, since the world only cares about first place.â
Any other world would be the same, but this world especially was one that cared about the top.
âOh! Young Master!â
As soon as I entered the guesthouse, Wi Seol-Ah ran towards me and threw herself inside my arms.
âUghâŚ!â
Her tackle was rather strong, so I let out a grunt without being able to hold it in.
Because I had practiced with the energy for a while, it seemed like my fatigue had piled up as my body ached even to Wi Seol-Ahâs tackle.
ââŚOr maybe not, it feels like she got more solid than before.â
âUhâŚUmâŚYoung Master, are you okay?â
Because of me letting out a grunt when I usually donât, Wi Seol-Ah looked at me with worried eyes.
I then smiled at her signaling that I was fine.
âIâm fine. I just felt a little surprised.â
âWhen Young Master smiles in such a scary manner like that, it usually means that something happenedâŚâ
ââŚWhat did you say, you little brat?â
Scary manner� I even went out of my way to smile for her.
As I was pinching Wi Seol-ahâs cheek because of what she said to me, I heard a voice from a different direction.
âYoung Master Gu, you came backâŚ?â
It was Tang Soyeol.
When I looked at her, I also saw Namgung Bi-ah using Tang Soyeolâs knees as a pillow for her to sleep on.
âOh, Sis fell asleep just now while waiting for you.â
âYou sure she wasnât just sleeping the whole time?â
âI-I swear.â
ââŚOkay.â
I couldnât believe it no matter how much I thought about it, but I let it pass.
âOh right, the Beggarâs Sect was looking for you earlier in the day.â
âBeggarâs Sect?â
I thought about Chuwong as soon as I heard Tang Soyeol.
It seemed like he had come searching for me as soon as he heard that I had won.
âAnd when I came, I saw that he was already talking to Seol-Ah.â
âThis girl?â
âUwughâŚâ
Wi Seol-Ah spoke to Chuwong, huh.
That wouldâve been a rather interesting scene, so I felt a bit disappointed that I missed it.
âBecause they were companions in my past life.â
The King of Beggars, the Celestial Sword, and a few others aside from those two.
They were a group consisting of strong individuals with great talent.
And since he was one of the few people that the Celestial Sword Wi Seol-ah cared for, I was sure that their meeting held many meanings.
If they had retained their memories that is.
âHeâs just an ordinary hobo at this point of time.â
âHe asked that when he returns, we let the True Dragon know that Chuwong from the Beggarâs Sect had come looking for him.â
âThanks for letting me know, Iâll talk to him when I get to see him lat-â
I was about to respond to Tang Soyeol, but there was one strange thing in the middle of her sentence.
âWhat Dragon did you just say?â
âTrue Dragon!â
When I asked Tang Soyeol, she responded with excitement.
ââŚTrue Dragon?â
Was that referring to me by any chance?
âThat seems like the case.â
Just hearing that title gave me goosebumps.
âThough the title I got in my past life was much worse.â
I guess True Dragon was better.
âIs Young Master Gu not happy?â
âShould I beâŚ?â
âYou should be!â
Must I really be happy for me to be included in this group of geniuses?
Also as an adult, it was embarrassing for me to be happy about this.
Tang Soyeol kept looking at me with shiny eyes, so I responded to her in the end, pretending that I was happy.
âYayâŚIâm so happyâŚâ
ââŚWowâŚYoung Master GuâŚyou look like you have no soul.â
But, I tried my bestâŚ
I just pretended not to hear when Tang Soyeol whispered âEven his emotionless face is handsomeâ right after.
Behind this scene, Wi Seol-Ah was looking outside the guesthouse, up at the sky.
She was looking towards the west.
Towards none other than the Murim Alliance building, the place where Jang Cheon and Jang Seonyeon were.
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