Chapter 93: Gae-Gek-Gae-Gek-Gae-Gek
That old man was incredibly strong.
So strong, in fact, that I still couldn’t gauge his level.
It was safe to assume he was at least on par with the King of Birds or the Snake Queen.
Moreover, unlike them, he didn’t rely on special abilities or the advantage of size.
In other words, if it came down purely to martial arts, the Compsognathus old man might actually be superior.
If such a being offered to teach me a cultivation method, I’d welcome it with open arms.
However, there was something that bothered me.
This old man seemed a bit rushed.
Just a moment ago, he was beating me like he wanted to kill me, and now he wanted to pass on a cultivation technique.
It felt like the middle part had been skipped. As if there wasn’t much time.
He looked pressed for time.
Maybe he was excited about discovering a raw gem like the Komodo-Lania.
A loathsome creature, but one he couldn’t let slip to someone else!
Maybe he was thinking something along those lines.
Or perhaps he had met my wife during my recent outing.
A family head, unable to resist his daughter’s insistence, passing down the family’s secret techniques.
That was the feeling.
…Though, the odds of that being the case were extremely low.
If he had met Shikshik, he wouldn’t have let me live.
There was no point in speculating about various situations here.
How could I possibly guess what this old man was thinking?
If he believed in Gae-Gek, then maybe.
So, there was no need to try to guess this old man’s intentions right now.
He must have his reasons.
If he wanted to teach me quickly, that was actually better.
It meant more time to get accustomed to a new cultivation technique.
*Whoosh….*
The fire energy continued to flicker.
It wasn’t unbearable, just slightly irritating.
I assumed a posture similar to the old man’s to control the fire energy.
It was a breathing exercise stance.
But I didn’t close my eyes.
I needed to see how this old man behaved.
*Wooong….*
The Compsognathus sat in the lotus position, completely still.
But just because he was motionless didn’t mean he was doing nothing.
I could instinctively feel it.
The old man’s internal energy was circulating.
His black and white scales began to emit a faint glow as his internal energy flowed.
Simply circulating his internal energy caused such a transformation.
I watched with wide eyes.
It was the most martial arts-like scene I’d witnessed since coming to this world.
A scene that rivaled the moment I first saw Baek Yeonyeong use the Nine Yin White Bone Claws.
Back then, I had been ignorant, but now I could grasp at least a bit of what the Compsognathus was doing.
I could faintly sense the flow of internal energy.
The energy that started from his lower dantian circulated throughout his entire body.
It didn’t stop there; the energy seeped into the area around his heart.
*Thump.*
*Thump.*
The old man’s internal energy moved in time with his heartbeat.
This meant he had opened not just his lower dantian but also his middle dantian.
Although he wasn’t human, this was a good indication that he had long surpassed the threshold of mastery.
The internal energy gathered in the middle dantian circulated throughout his entire body once again.
The old man’s name was Hunhwi.
Just like his name, which meant ‘mixed with light and darkness,’ the old man’s scales emitted both black and white light.
He was currently like a perfect being in which Yin and Yang were completely balanced.
Like a penguin or a panda.
As if he had read my thoughts, the old man’s eyes slowly opened.
“Kek.”
Judging by his triumphant expression, it seemed he hadn’t.
Setting aside his appearance, the old man had just shown me something truly amazing.
To be honest, I was somewhat moved.
Baek Yeonyeong had never taught me a cultivation method or shown me her breathing exercises.
Neither had the Snake Queen.
…Then again, with her lower body being a snake, even if she had shown me, I wouldn’t have understood.
I hadn’t expected anything from Tang whatever.
In other words, this was the first time I had seen someone practice breathing exercises in this martial arts world, apart from myself.
“Kekek.”
The old man pointed at me with his finger.
He was telling me to try it out since he had shown me something good.
Expecting me to follow a cultivation method after just seeing a lotus position once?
Wasn’t that a bit too much?
At the very least, he should tell me what that passage meant so I could at least pretend to follow it.
In most cases, that is.
The old man knew I had easily followed the miniaturization.
And that was thanks to the reverse scale on my chest.
[You use 「Dragon’s Reverse Scale lv1」.]
If I hadn’t understood it, I wouldn’t have been able to use it, like with the Imoogi Bird’s destructive ray.
At the very least, I had to see it and partially grasp it, like with the Snake Queen and Shikshik’s destructive rays.
[You have temporarily acquired 「Soaring Dragon’s Cultivation Technique」.]
Having seen it up close, understanding the movement wasn’t difficult.
I had temporarily acquired the Soaring Dragon’s Cultivation Technique.
Was this the end of the training, and was it now time to steal some elixirs?
No. That couldn’t be it.
Of course, from now on, I could use the Soaring Dragon’s Cultivation Technique anytime.
…If I used the reverse scale, that is.
Cultivation methods are supposed to be integrated naturally, like breathing.
When would I use the reverse scale and when would I use the cultivation technique?
Copying it with the reverse scale was meaningless.
So why did I copy this cultivation method now?
The reason was simple.
I ignored the passages and the principles entirely, and instead, I just threw myself into it.
Until when?
Until I made this cultivation method entirely my own.
I closed my eyes.
I could still feel the fire energy that had yet to settle.
There was a reason the old man had touched the area around my reverse scale.
It seemed like he had given me the task of mastering this fire energy.
If I fully mastered the Soaring Dragon’s Cultivation Technique, I would be able to suppress the fire energy.
He had intentionally ignited the fire within me and then provided a solution.
It was a teaching method reminiscent of the story about a beast pushing its young off a cliff to make them strong.
But that wasn’t enough.
I opened my eyes wide.
This fire energy was incomplete.
I could feel it gradually weakening over time.
I needed a stronger, overwhelming fire energy.
“Gegek.”
I pointed at my chest with my finger.
The old man looked at me with a satisfied expression.
He seemed to have understood the meaning behind my actions.
The old man approached me, and I closed my eyes again.
*Tap.*
The moment the old man’s thin hand touched the reverse scale.
*Whoooosh.*
*Bam! Bam! Bam!*
An enormous fire energy surged like a fountain.
The internal energy burst forth from deep within my lower dantian.
*Thump.*
*Thump.*
My heart raced.
The legends about the reverse scale were no lie.
I felt a primal urge to slaughter the one who had dared touch my reverse scale.
An extreme situation where it was difficult to think of anything else.
This was what I needed.
*Hooo.*
I took a deep breath.
If I exhaled slowly, it felt like flames would burst out, my body was that hot.
I decided to calm the fire energy using the principles of the Soaring Dragon’s Cultivation Technique.
The Soaring Dragon I knew was a water dragon.
I recalled running through swamps using the Soaring Dragon’s Ascension Step in the body of the Green Basilisk.
If I continued to visualize the imagery of water and neutralized the fire energy, I would soon be able to master the Soaring Dragon’s Cultivation Technique.
Yes.
Just a little more and I would master the Soaring Dragon’s—
A certain emotion welled up deep within my chest.
It wasn’t a pure emotion.
If I had to categorize it, it was closer to greed.
A very foolish greed.
Was obtaining the Soaring Dragon’s Cultivation Technique like this the best option?
It was a great story to acquire martial arts through the power of the reverse scale.
It could drastically shorten the learning period, and the power difference wouldn’t be too significant.
But could a cultivation method be treated the same as other martial arts?
If I repeated it over and over, I might be able to learn it.
But I would always remain ignorant of the passages and principles.
*Whooooosh!*
The fire energy grew even more intense.
I had stopped practicing the Soaring Dragon’s Cultivation Technique.
What I needed to focus on wasn’t the old man’s cultivation method.
It was my White Orchid Heart Technique.
The White Orchid Heart Technique was a cultivation method like a blank white canvas.
It was literally a blank slate.
I didn’t know the passages or the principles.
I wasn’t even sure if it could be called a proper cultivation method.
It might just be a simple skill handed to me by the status window.
A tool for using internal energy.
I hadn’t thought of it as anything more or less.
Until now, I had never taken a closer look at the White Orchid Heart Technique.
In a way, it should have been the first thing I looked at.
*Whoooooosh.*
The fire energy grew stronger.
Any more of this would be dangerous.
Originally, touching the reverse scale wouldn’t put me in danger.
But now, the fire energy of the Fire Carp was resonating with my anger.
The heat was beginning to spread from within, so intense that it could melt my body.
If I used the Soaring Dragon’s Cultivation Technique to suppress the fire energy, I would be safe.
But I couldn’t do that.
It was time to create my own cultivation method.
To be honest, my growth speed had been nothing short of miraculous.
But I couldn’t be complacent.
While my internal energy contributed to my strength, in a way, my external martial arts were doing most of the work.
Training only external martial arts wouldn’t get me far.
In my spar with the old man, if not for the Snake Queen’s mark, I wouldn’t have even been able to touch him.
“Gegek.”
I let out a low growl.
There was something Tang So-yeong had said once.
That my growl wasn’t “Gegek,” but “Gae-Gek.”
And that Gae-Gek meant reaching for something high.
She said it was the perfect cry for a Komodo-Lania.
The canvas of White Orchid was ready.
Now, I just needed to engrave the passage to control this fire energy.
Gae-Gek.
That had been my cry as a Gecko Lizard, and it had evolved into what it was now, “Gae-Gek.”
“Gae-Gek” was just something that could have been dismissed as a joke.
But under the name of Gae-Gek, connections had gathered.
Some were familiar, others were complete strangers.
Gae-Gek had become their faith.
No longer could Gae-Gek be dismissed as a mere joke.
“Gae-Gek (愾喀).”
The lowest being looks up and cries out; that is Gae-Gek.
“Gae-Gek (塏揢).”
The lowest being reaches for something high; that is Gae-Gek.
“Gae-Gek (開客).”
The lowest being opens the way for others; that is Gae-Gek.
The internal energy that started in my lower dantian circulated throughout my entire body.
The energy of cold from Seolsam, completely opposite to the fire energy, clashed with the fire energy.
*Whoosh.*
*Crackle.*
The fire energy and cold energy collided fiercely.
I instinctively realized.
Even the slightest mistake would make my body explode.
But I wasn’t worried.
“Gae-Gek.”
*Thump.*
My heart raced.
It wasn’t because I was nervous or due to the influence of the fire energy.
It was because the cores and elixirs I had consumed were all responding.
They seemed to cry out, complaining about being forcefully stuffed into my lower dantian. They wanted to move to the newly opened dantian.
It felt as if I could hear their loud protests.
*Thump.*
The internal energy that had been circulating quickly throughout my body gathered at one point.
It was the heart.
In other words, the middle dantian.
As the blocked path to the middle dantian opened, the internal energy began to accumulate at an incredible speed.
*Thump.*
The fire energy and cold energy that had been raging began to naturally lose their intensity.
The fire energy gathered in the middle dantian.
The cold energy returned to the lower dantian.
The internal energy, which had been chaotically arranged, naturally settled into place.
The quantity and quality of the internal energy and elixirs I had consumed were far from lacking.
They were too vast for my dantian to contain and too powerful for my cultivation method to utilize fully, so I had only been using a fraction of them.
And now, that limitation was being lifted.
[「White Orchid Heart Technique」 has evolved into 「Gae-Gek Heart Technique」.]
Yes.
This was the beginning of my path to mastery.