Ep422 - I Became a Drunkard in a Martial Arts Novel.

An opponent charging in like a dog in heat. Unlike his shabby appearance, the overwhelming force emanating from him caught her off guard. The Blood Witch reacted by unleashing her full strength, combined with her formidable energy, and struck him square in the face, sending him flying. Crash! "Ugh…!?" Her strike met the charging old man with equal force, resulting in a powerful blow. The shabby-looking old man, Kwonma, flew back dozens of yards, landing flat on a grassy meadow. "......" The opponent lay utterly still, without the slightest movement. Seeing this, the Blood Witch furrowed her delicate brows. She had thrown her punch with more than seventy percent of her full power. And yet, he had only flown a mere few dozen yards. The surprises didn’t end there. Ouch! She felt considerable pain in her fist that had struck him forcefully. "How could a human body be so hard?" Her opponent’s body was impossibly solid. "And the rebound force is tremendous." The pain and slight tremor in her fist caused the Blood Witch's face to harden. Her hand was the result of rigorous training to master the art of bare-handed combat to its finest limits. Her power was such that she could clash with steel swords barehanded, causing no scratch to herself but shattering the swords instead. And this was her power without any additional force. With it, she was even more formidable. In the past, she had shattered a thick door made of solid iron without spilling a drop of blood or feeling a hint of pain. "He's no ordinary opponent." As she looked at the figure fallen in the distance, the Blood Witch’s gaze grew increasingly solemn. "Ehehehe…!" Suddenly, Kwonma, who lay as if dead, burst into laughter. "It's been so long since I've felt such pain. Ehehehe!" "......" Irritated by the madman's laughter, the Blood Witch scowled. His body was hard, but that didn't mean he was invulnerable to her punches. She had confirmed that striking his face did transmit enough impact to reach the bone. "A madman too, it seems." Realizing that he actually enjoyed the pain, only affirmed his lunacy. Crunch! Kwonma forcibly adjusted a bone dislocated by her powerful blow. His lecherous eyes turned to the Blood Witch. "Madam, let me ask once more." "……." "Marry me." To his persistent question, the Blood Witch responded immediately. "It would be better to grow old and die alone for a thousand years than to live with a decrepit monster like you." A resolute refusal. This made Kwonma's face twitch. "In that case…." It took but a moment for the once shabby old face to transform into one of a demon's. In his mind, Kwonma always took what he desired, by any means necessary. Living his entire life this way, he intended to persist until his last breath. Therefore, he must also possess the woman before him. "Even if I have to kill you to have you...!" By any and all means. Boom-! With a resounding explosion that shook the ground, Kwonma vanished. More precisely, he charged at the Blood Witch with a speed beyond what the eye could follow. "……!" Kwonma's grinning face appeared suddenly before her eyes. The Blood Witch, determined to knock him back, thrust her hands enveloped in a shimmering crimson energy. Thud! But this time, as if prepared not to be caught again, his approaching hand met hers firmly, nullifying the assault. "Hehe, gotcha." Her palms, attempting to push him away, clung to his, determined not to let go. Energy flowed between their locked palms, endlessly colliding with fierce intensity. Boom, boom, boom, boom—! A fierce wind swirled around the two. As the amount of internal energy forced into the struggle grew, so did the intensity of each collision. As the internal battle deepened, the smile on Kwonma’s lips widened even more. "Heh heh... You've reached your limit, haven't you? You're going to die, right?" His tone brimming with confidence. This stemmed from his origins. A hallmark of the demonic martial arts was the ability to collect energy quickly. Though it dismissed safety almost entirely, the focus was solely on accumulating energy rapidly. This resulted in a high casualty rate during the training process, but those who survived death or madness gained unmatched power. Kwonma's current age was a staggering 108 years. He began his demonic training at the age of eight upon entering the training center, hand-in-hand with his father, making this his centennial year. Surviving all this time and tirelessly building his energy through demonic arts, his internal prowess was rated even above the prestigious Black Sovereign and the Three Demon Lords. In front of him stood a woman likely in her late twenties to early thirties. No matter how strong she seemed, she believed he couldn't possibly have a deeper reserve of power than she did! However, there was one thing he didn't know. "Hmm…. You seem quite confident in your internal power." Her age was not just in the double digits, but in the triple digits. True, she had spent two centuries in slumber, but that didn’t mean her body had been idle. The coffin that kept her was crafted from an extremely rare and costly material known as ice jade. Not only did it preserve her body from decay for hundreds of years, but it also added another function. All the residual energy utilized to maintain her preservation was absorbed into her body. Admittedly, compared to when she actively circulated her internal techniques, that energy was relatively weak. But over the span of two hundred years, that changes things significantly. "Do what you will, if that’s what you wish." Since reawakening after two centuries, she had been training relentlessly. To awaken her body to the level of her current realm. And to fully assimilate the energy that had unknowingly accumulated in a stagnant pool within her dantian. This effort had begun to bear fruit recently. She absorbed the stiffened energy into her own through numerous sparring matches with Baek Woojin, who had reached the Transcendental realm. Now, the amount of internal power residing within her strengthened body was incomparable to Kwonma's. "N-no, how… how is this possible…?" The confident grin that had been firmly planted on Kwonma's face vanished, replaced with deep bewilderment. Despite having poured in over eighty percent of his internal power, his opponent's momentum not only remained undeterred but even began to surpass his own! "Does this young girl's internal strength exceed mine?!" It was unbelievable. More energy than he had accumulated through a century of demonic training. "You… you girl, have you been consuming elixirs like meals?" The Blood Witch's eyes gleamed mischievously as she looked at the flustered Kwonma. "Calling me 'girl.' How rude, young boy." "Wha... young boy?" In the midst of their ongoing internal battle, Kwonma's expression turned dumbfounded. The audacity. At the age of 108, he never expected to hear himself called a 'young boy.' At first, he thought she was joking, but it didn’t seem to be just a jest. In essence, she implied. "Big sister?" Shockingly, it seemed his opponent was indeed older than him. "……." Big sister. Upon hearing this title, the Blood Witch's face twisted with an intensity incomparably greater than before. "It's fascinating how the same term can evoke such different feelings depending on who's saying it…." When Baek Woojin called her sister, it always felt endearing and comforting. Yet when this decrepit monster called her big sister, it felt as though her mood was plummeting to the depths of the earth. Just as she was about to press onward with her full momentum and completely crush Kwonma, "Cough…!" Sensing defeat, Kwonma reluctantly withdrew the internal power clashing with hers and quickly stepped back. This retreat did not come without significant consequences. "Cough…!" Drip. The sudden withdrawal of his inner energy caused a severe internal injury as her overflow of energy chaotically invaded his body. Though his body's unusual resilience was hastily repairing the damage, he was no longer in a condition to continue the fight with her. 'Damn it.' Thankfully, one option remained. Lazily approaching from behind was his longtime bad companion, the Sword Demon. Although the thought of asking for help grated him to the bone, given their lifetime of camaraderie and rivalry, 'There’s no other choice.' What could he do? Better to seek help than to truly die. Even at his venerable age, he still wanted to live longer. Finally, scrunching his face in frustration, he shouted. "Get over here, you cursed swordsman!" At that instant, a boisterous laughter echoed from beyond the horizon. Wahaha! "Urgh…." It was unmistakably mocking. Teasing him for boldly charging ahead only to end up in such a sorry state. Soon, another figure appeared. Unlike the gaunt Kwonma, this was a sturdy man, an old warrior with a sword tied at his waist. His presence was peculiar. As sharp as a single blade at times, then suddenly flowing like water. Exuding such a strange aura, the Sword Demon arrived at their side and chastised Kwonma. "You old coot, didn’t I warn you not to start with an internal power clash?" "Urgh…." On any normal day, he would have had a retort ready, but this time, he had nothing to say. Had he not pushed it into an internal battle, he might not have suffered such a crushing defeat. Upon seeing Kwonma's subdued demeanor, something he hadn't witnessed in decades, the Sword Demon laughed heartily and drew his sword. "What will you give me if I help you?" "Take whatever you want, you damned fool." "Heh heh heh!" Kwonma wore a deeply scowling frown, while the Sword Demon laughed as if delighted. As both men simultaneously mustered their formidable auras, a chill ran down the Blood Witch's spine. Each of these men were formidable masters in their own right, threatening to match her in skill. Could she withstand their combined onslaught? Just as she was lost in deep concern, "Two monsters walking around when they should’ve long been in coffins?" A familiar and immensely welcome voice came from behind her. Baek Woojin emerged slowly from the lush forest. With a broad smile playing on his lips, he taunted the two old monsters. "Ah! So you're just alive to find a place to die, are you?" The Sword Demon and Kwonma's faces twisted into grimaces. A strategy to provoke the opponent's emotions and manipulate them to follow one's lead. While it should have been obvious enough not to ruffle them, somehow his words infuriated them. "We should kill that brat first." "Agreed." Why did every word from his mouth irritate them so? They simply couldn't fathom it. --- Author’s Note: I'll see you in the next chapter. Thank you for reading as always. Have a restful night. (_ _)