No Dark Secrets In This Book

Episode 80

“Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown (三花聚顶)?” 

Hearing Ryuseong’s dumbfounded voice, which was unusual, I unconsciously touched the top of my head as I dropped my ice hammer.

Three mana flower buds were emitting light above my head.

‘Did I just become a guy with flowers on his head?’

It felt like a cat ear camera filter suddenly appeared in reality. I was so flabbergasted that I tried to rub it off with my hand, but seeing Ryuseong’s shocked expression covering his mouth, I finally recalled what Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown meant. I don’t know much about Taoism, but I know it because I’ve read a ton of martial arts novels. Each novel has different opinions on which realm this ability appears, but to summarize, it’s a super awesome symbol that appears when the protagonist levels up…

‘Memory, please work hard.’

As if encouraged by my pointless personification, the search results I found on the Internet gradually started coming back to me. 

The book “Collection of Palm Leaf Dialogues” said this:

“Yin within yang, yang within yang, yang within yin and yang. 

When the three yangs face the inner primordial and return to the heavenly palace, it’s called Jowon.

Transform the golden pill inside the Hwangjeong, refine the yang spirit in the center of the five qi (五氣), the five qi meet in the middle primordial, chasing the sovereign fire and transcending the inner primordial.  

The five liquids (五液) meet in the lower primordial, the five qi meet in the middle primordial, and the three yangs meet in the upper primordial.

When Jowon is complete, the effect fills the three thousand worlds,

Sometimes a crane dances in the crown, sometimes a dragon dozes inside the body.”

…Damn it. I memorized it without understanding a single thing. What the hell is it saying? You should write it in a way that people can understand!

But martial arts novels gave me information. I quickly searched my memory and recalled the 3,578 martial arts novels I had read, roughly remembering that Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown meant the three yangs converging in the upper Danjeon. I think if you reach a similar state in the middle and lower Danjeon, you can also achieve something. 

“Only the sound of a musical instrument is heard from a distant place, and whirling fairy flowers are seen falling. The purple court is vast and the true fragrance is deep. When merit fills the three thousand worlds, one is no longer a mundane person. By the time one incense stick burns out, one is already a guest of Penglai and Yingzhou. 

Soon transcending the mundane and shedding the physical form to become an immortal.  

When the golden liquid condenses internally, the bones take on a golden hue, the body emits a golden light, and golden flowers naturally appear in the air. The five qi converge in the middle primordial and the three yangs gather at the crown.

It is time to transcend the ordinary body, and the golden pill will be greatly achieved.”

In other words… if I gain this kind of enlightenment two more times, I’ll become an awesome master?

‘I guess I’m more amazing than I thought?!’

I didn’t do anything particularly great, but I’m growing and going crazy on my own?

However, the expression of the original protagonist was more serious than I expected. 

‘What, what is it.’

Is he troubled because he has to kill me before I get stronger? But I had no intention of dying obediently either!

“…You have attained great achievement. Congratulations. I should have guarded the law.”

“No, how could I circulate my energy with you standing there.”

In one word, it meant I didn’t trust him. Ryuseong’s face contorted at my strong expression of distrust, but I was sincere. I absolutely must not circulate breathing techniques near him! I could get assassinated at any moment, so how could I be leveling up?!

Perhaps because of my declaration of distrust, the air was somewhat awkward. But I had no intention of dispelling the uncomfortable atmosphere, so I poked at the half-extinguished embers of the campfire and enjoyed the scenery of the darkness lifting in the bright morning.

After a moment, the regretful person broke the silence first.

“Your body.”

“I survived thanks to the robe. Should I return it to you?”

“You wear it. Keep it.”

“I’ll do that then.”

Strangely, Ryuseong was enduring well without freezing to death. I almost died yesterday, but despite being dressed similarly, I couldn’t understand why he was fine alone. Is he an extreme yang body type or something? I know that the martial arts of the Hanla Sect are not particularly inclined towards yang, so I was envious of his resistance to the cold. Well, if we had both fought over one robe saying we were cold, we would have ended up buried together under the snowstorm, so I guess it’s fortunate if you look at it that way.

“How should I repay you?”

“You’re a cold one.”

“Should I repay with a kiss, or do you want something more?”

“…Crazy bastard…”

Ryuseong spat out contemptuously and harshly, then got up and started packing the luggage he had untied. I willingly cooperated with his tacit signal to depart. After all, it was Ryuseong who had taken charge of the camping, so it was right for him to see it through to the end. I’m not used to traversing the great outdoors with a human body like this. If I had come alone without Ryuseong, a story of resolving everything with magic would have unfolded. I would have lit a fire with magic, marked the coordinates of the black fox colony with magic, and used teleport. 

However, not knowing what battles might occur now, being able to reduce mana consumption by just following Ryuseong’s instructions was an unexpected gain.

‘Literally a human Bear Grylls…!’

Ah, wait, Bear Grylls is already human, right?

When I tapped his shoulder, signaling that I had finished changing into my combat uniform, Ryuseong, who had been sitting with his back turned, meticulously scanned my outfit and silently took the lead. Following the guide’s back, I pondered whether the achievement I had attained was excessive… Perhaps it was a process of synchronizing the achievements of the original Cassice Demillang with my body.

It was just as rational as the fact that I was a genius. For a moment, as I focused on that, a forest suddenly spread out beneath my feet. We were standing on a cliff-like, steep snow hill, and below it was all forest.

The interior of the forest was completely covered in pitch-black fog, making it impossible to see inside.

Ryuseong gestured that he would go down first, then slid down the cliff as if it were a slide, using the tips of his feet. Before reaching the bottom, he lightly kicked the cliff to reduce his speed and neatly landed in the air with a light thud. It was impressive.

But Ryuseong seemed to think that I couldn’t do it like him.

“Throw yourself.”

“Are you telling me to die?”

“No matter what happens, I’ll catch you, so come down. Hurry.”

Somehow you’ve been acting strange for the past few days, and it seems you’re greatly misunderstanding. I’m only following your words to use less mana, not because I’m helpless and can’t handle it.

‘How should I let you know that I’m not someone you need to protect?’

But I thought it was childish to have a battle of wills over something like descending a cliff. I carelessly looked down at the ground and suddenly threw my body, fluttering in the air until at some point I was firmly grasped in the man’s arms. He didn’t let me go. He had such passionate eyes.

“…You catch well.”

“Because you’re light.”

But I wished he had a little more. I hate being seen as someone who needs to be protected, and I don’t want a love that has melted softly with sympathy and pity. However, your passion was mixed with pity for me… and in my opinion, you shouldn’t be like that. At the very least, the me that Ryuseong thinks of is the villain who tried to annihilate his world. Then you needed to have a little more fear towards me. I didn’t want an idiot who only understood if I spelled it out that I didn’t exist beneath you.

“…Why are you smiling?”

You should have been afraid of me. Finding me terrible, shuddering with horror, and loving me desperately. 

You should have felt to the bone that I was above you.

“Because I’m thinking of hunting, it’s making me happy.”

I said with a giggle. Indeed, it seems that Cassice Demillang and I have similar personalities. Although I’m still a bit kinder in terms of humanity.

To the point that I had a groundless thought – could it be that I became a possessor because Cassice Demillang and I resembled each other to this degree?

Ryuseong was looking at me as if asking what was so joyful about voluntarily crawling into a forest covered in black fog…

‘Is it any of your business?’

I charged into the forest without hesitation.

“Cassice Demillang…! At least discuss the departure with the person next to you!”

Regardless of Ryuseong nagging beside me, I looked at the barrier artifact in the shape of a brooch that automatically activated in response to the black fog.

The black fog itself is a disaster that contaminates the soil and turns the atmosphere into poison. Any life consumed by the black fog becomes a monster. It’s no different for humans or beasts.

However, the conquerors learned how to protect the world from the black fog.

The method was to trap the black fog in a certain area or to trap humans in a certain area, which the world called demon-subjugating (降魔) barriers. It could truly be seen as barriers that saved humanity.

‘It’s the only way to prevent the spread of the black fog, after all…’

Of course, barriers are not perfect. To be precise, barriers can be perfect, but the caster of the barrier cannot be perfect. If the caster dies or reaches the state of being deluded and unable to control mana, the barrier will also break.

Therefore, demon-subjugating barriers that protect the caster from the black fog have been the artifacts that have been made with the utmost care since ancient times.

And now, I turned off the barrier without hesitation.

“What…!”

Uh, I know it’s a crazy thing to do… But hyung has a plan.

So don’t be too surprised, Ryuseong?